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CAMPBELL'S 



NEW REVISED 



COMPLETE GUIDE AND DESCRIPTIVE BOOK 



OF 



MEXICO 



By REAU CAMPBELL 



CHICAGO 

1909 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Gooies Received 

DEC 18 1! 
cuss Q 



jpy d(. _ _ j 



Copyright, 1908, by Reau Campbell. 



Es Propiedad en Mexico 
de Reau Campbell 



J. Manz & Co., Engravers 
Chicago 



Press and Binding 
Rogers & Smith C( 
Chicago 



M. H. Vestal, Type Corrections 
Chicago 



Brown -Cooper Typesetting Co. 
Chicago 



The Illustrations 



tiuncJ below The figure; denote the pai;e on which their respective pictufts appMri 



are enjraved (ram photoeraphs and drawings ma-lc by the ar 
Franc Campbell, AtlanU. Ga.. 63. 
ReauCampbell. Chirajo. Ill 39. Ill )20. lil KO 177 179. 202. 203 207 2,"! ^■'7 2ij 213 2jO 263 2.',« 262. 20.-, 269, 270 313 

P S.Cox.Cityol Menico.30.90.1M. 122. 137 138. 154 ' 

Briquet. City of Mexico. 287 

R R Earle. Chicago. Ill . SO. 59. 120. 1.10. 190. 201. 201. 244 2.^2 281 28S .10: .109 313 

John Faria«. Guadalajara. Mexico. 144 M.',. 100. 

W. H Jackwn. Denver. 4.1. 79. 80. SI. 82. 94 99 IC2 103 If.S. 272 274 

F. O Luthy. Cincinnati. Ohio. 213. 

J M. Macom. 25. 20, 28! 232. 302. 

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Mayo & Weed. Chicago, 10. 33. 35. 37. SB. 1 1.5. 127. 143. 151. 155. 109. 184. 190. 205. 214. 231. 242. 247 249 251. 2S3 293. 308. 311 
i<>i!m!i^]%'^io'',,lT9i^'ii,':'i^^^^^^ "9 '23 'M.'" .33 141 1,3 149 157 159,106. 

I. C Skeelf, Chicago. 40. 124. 127. 129. 147 2IS 



2.-M. 2,V<. 267. 
107. 174. 182, 



Preface. 

T T IS the early traveler in a country who knows the real need of a guide 
^ and descriptive book, from the fact that his journeys are made, perforce, 
without one, and he is compelled to find the places and things as best he can. 

To find these places and things, of which one may have only heard, is not 
unattended by difBculties. The native does not always regard them as out of 
the ordinary, or of special interest, and, however courteous and willing he 
may be, is not always able to show the way to objects of even considerable 
importance. 

I have known these difificulties as an early traveler in Mexico, and, while 
I rejoiced in seeing what others had not seen, I have wished for the book 
that might guide me over untraveled roads, till I have come to believe that 
he who writes the book leaves a legacy to him who comes after. 

The Guide and Descriptive Book of Mexico is written after the experiences 
of- a decade of travel in that country, and an exploring expedition made ex- 
pressly to secure a better acquaintance with the country, these have given a 
knowledge of its cities and towns, of its mountains, valleys and spreading 
plains, and of its history and legend, impossible from reading or hearsay. 

The Historical and Clerical data have been carefully culled from the best 
authorities and from the records of Church and State. 

The Legends are from the country's books and from the fascinating folk- 
lore of its people. 

Statistical and tabulated information is compiled from the latest data and 
from the most reliable sources. 

The Maps are from the latest surveys, comprising "the extension of rail- 
ways and routes of travel to the year of the date of the book. 

The Descriptions have been written under the spell; in the presence of 

an atmosphere of romantic adventure; while loitering in the fields of the 

Conquest; under the shadows of ruined temples, whose describing by the 

ancient chronicler sufifices, and of which no more is known to-day than then, 

when it was written by him that those temples were, "the work of a people 

iii 



IV 

which had passed away, under the assaults of barbarism, at a period prior to 
all traditions, leaving no name, and no trace of their existence save those 
monuments, which, neglected and forgotten by their successors,, have become 
the riddle of later generations." 

The Illustrations are from photographs taken during tours of the country 
and engraved directly from those photographs, without redrawing. The tour 
of exploration was made for the express purpose of the publication of a guide 
and descriptive book, that should guide and describe for the traveler or reader 
of Mexico. 

Every date and place of the story of Mexico, from the Grand River of the 
North to Tehauntepec, is noted compactly and with all the accuracy possible. 
Every city and town of note which has been written of elsewhere has its place 
here; there are some not found in other books which are in these pages, and 
none are more important or more interesting than the pre-historic Ruins 
of Mitla, visited first by my exploring expedition of 1894, and which are here 
written of for the first time since the earlier chronicles of the country. 

To the courteous citizens of the country I traveled in, to the strangers of 
America, England, France, Spain and Germany abiding there, to the Railway 
officials especially, and to my co-travelers and explorers I am indebted; to the 
expert artists of the engravers' craft, and of the art preservative, who have 
made a culmination so devoutly wished, I am deeply grateful. 

REAU CAMPBELL. 

Chicago, January i, 1895. 

POSTSCRIPT. 

After a book is in print it is the cold type that shows so glaringly the 
faults of omission and commission, not more apparent to any one than to its 
author — especially if that author has continued the study of his subject 

Since the first edition of this work was printed I have not ceased to 
travel in the country it describes — and if I knew Mexico then, and a generous 
public has attested that, I should know it better now; and I have left out 
some things that ought to have been omitted before and added that which 
I should not have left out at all— till now the work is well nigh complete, 
as nearly so as any book of its kind may be, where an advancing civilization 
changes its pages almost ere they are written. R. C. 

January, 1909 



Contents, 



PAGE 



GEOGRAPHICAL— Rivers— Lakes— Harbors— Mountains— Table-lands 
— Seaports — Agriculture — Forests — Mines and Mining — Manufac- 
tures — Climate — Railroads — Steamer Lines 7 

HISTORICAL— The Toltecs and Aztecs— Conquest by Cortez— Viceroys 
— Independent Mexico — Empire of Iturbide — Laws of the Reform — 
Revolutions — American War — French Intervention — Administra- 
tion of Diaz 23 

PRACTICAL MATTERS— Railway Tickets— Baggage and Customs 
Regulations — Money — Measures and Distances — Climate — Cloth- 
ing — Cabs and Carriages — Horse Cars — Hotels and Restaurants — 
Stores and Shopping — Cigars and Tobacco — Police and Military — 
Doctors and Medicines — Cargadores — Church Visiting — Postoffice 
— Express Service — Telegraph — Baths — Servants — Dulces — Streets 
— Customs and Costumes — Official Permits — Laundry 43 

AMUSEMENTS— Theatre Principal— Theatre Nacional— Arbeu Theatre 
— Salon de Conciertos — Circo-Teatro Orrin — Bull Fights — Ball 
Games • • 61 

THE CITY OF MEXICO— Tenochtitlan— Chronology— Founding by 
the Mexicans — Reign of Montezuma — Entrance by Cortez — Siege 
by the Spaniards — Founding by Revillagigedo — City Government 
— Markets — Flower Markets — Portales — National Palace — Mint — 
National Library — School of Arts — National Museum — Cathedral 
— First Parish Church — Churches — Religious Orders — Jesuits — 
Inquisition — Schools and Colleges — Hospitals — Alameda — Paseos 
Calzadas — Aqueducts — Monuments — Monte Piedad — Plazas — 
Newspapers — Streets — Panteones 71 

AROUND THE VALLEY— Chapultepec—Molino del Rey— Tacubaya 
— Mixcoac — San Angel — Coyoacan — Tlalpam — Noche Triste — Ta- 
cuba — Atzcapatzalco — La Piedad — La Viga Canal — The Paseo — 
Desierto — San Juan Teotihuacan — Tlalnepantla — Tajo de Nochis- 

tongo — Guadelupe — Los Remedios 121 

V 



VI 

PAGE 

CITIES AND TOWNS OF MEXICO— Acambaro—Aguas Calientes— 
Amecameca — Catorce — Celaya — Chihuahua — Cordoba — Cuautla — 
Cuernavaca — Durango — Guadalajara — Guanajuato — Irapuato — 
Jalapa — Lagos — Leon — Lerdo — ]\Iaravatio — Monclova — MoreHa — 
Oaxaca — Ruins of Mitla — Orizaba — Pachuca — Patzcuaro — Puebla — 
Pyramid of Cholula — Queretaro — Sahillo — Salvatierra — San Luis 
Potosi — San Miguel de-Allende — Silao — Tampico — Texcoco — Tlax- 
cala — Toluca — Tula — Vera Cruz — Yautepec — Zacatecas 155 

RAILWAY RIDES IN MEXICO— South over the Central— Westward 
to Guadalajara — Eastward to Tampico — Eastward over the Mex- 
ican Railway — Westward over the International — Eastward over the 
Interoceanic — South over the National — Westward from Acambaro 
— The Mexican Northern Railway — South over the Southern — 
South over the Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific — The Michoacan & 
Pacific — The Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad — South over the 
Sonora Railway — The Tehuantepec Railway — Hidalgo Railway — 
Mexican National Construction Company 267 

THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO— Names of States— Capitals- 
Area — Assessed Values — Population — Government — Taxes 321 

LOCATION, POPULATION AND ALTITUDES. 2,22 

STREET CAR LINES 3^4 

TABLE OF TERMS 327 

CHRONOLOGICAL 339 

MAPS ■ 347 




Geographical. 



Between the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico on the east, 
the United States on the north and Guatemala on the south, lies the Repub- 
lic of Mexico, extending from the 15th to the 326. degree of north latitude, 
and from the 86th to the ii6th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. 
From north to south the length is nearly 2,000 miles; from east to west 
about 800 at the widest part, with an area of 772,652 square miles. Along 
the Gulf coast the low ground extends a distance into the interior, called 
the tierra caliente , or hot land; then it rises in terraces to the table-lands 
called the tierra teniplada, temperate land, and still to the regions of higher 
elevation, to the tierra fria, or cold land. In the tierra caliente it is summer 
always; in the tierra tefnplada eternal spring; in the tierra fria it is rarely 
cold enough for snow or ice. 

On the table lands of the interior there is a wide expanse of treeless 
plains, and but for the grand army of the cactus would be planiless, save 
in the valleys, where trees line the banks of the little rios and lakes and 
irrigating canals, but on the coast slopes and the low lands there are tangled 
forests of tropical verdure. The table lands of the highest altitude are those 
in Central Mexico. The plain of Toluca is about 8,575 feet above the sea; 
the Valley of Mexico 7,478; Puebla about the same as the Valley of Mexico, 
but for the most part a little higher. The table lands of the north range 
from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. Humboldt said he could drive his 
carriage from the City of Mexico to Santa Fe without the trouble of pre- 
paring a road; certainly he would not have found it necessary to cut down 
a tree, but it would be a rocky road, up hill and down dale. 

Climate — Not on earth is there a more equable, more delightful climate 
than is found in Mexico. Winter and summer alike are made up of delight- 
ful days; in winter of cloudless skies, in summer of cooling showers. 

It is an erroneous idea that it is not safe or pleasant to travel in Mexico 
in summer; in the interior the summer time is the most delightful. The 
only difference between summer and winter is that it rains in the summer 



8 

and does not in the winter. The rainy season commences in May or June, 
and lasts until October and sometimes into November. The altitude, the 
showers, the cooling breezes from the snow mountains make a perfect sum- 
mer climate, and a healthful one. Fevers peculiar to the tropics are known 
only in the hot lands of the immediate coast, and never experienced on 
the elevated table-lands or even on the slopes sixty miles from the coast. 
The mean temperature of the hot lands is about 80°; of the interior table- 
lands, as in the capital and principal cities, 70°, and the higher elevations 
60°. Make j'^our outings in Mexico generally in the morning and you will 
avoid the showers that nearly always come up in the afternoons of sum- 
mer, and winds blowing dust and sand after mid-day in winter. A more 
perfectly delightful climate is hardly possible to imagine, and possibly exists 
in few other countries. 

Rivers — The rivers of Mexico are more dignified by the appellation than, 
from the amount of water flowing within their banks. They are little more 




ROPE BRIDGE. 

than creeks, but as to length they are entitled to be called rivers. With 
the exception of the Rio Panuco, and one or two others, the rivers of 
Mexico are not navigable, and then only for a short distance from their 
mouths. The lack of tributaries, and the immense amount of water drawn 
ofif for irrigating purposes, is the reason given for the small size of the 
streams. For the most part they are, during the winter, but straggling 
brooks, or it may be, their beds are completely dry, but in the rainy sea- 



son become raging torrents. The Lerma is the longest river in Mexico, 
running its whole length within that country, being nearly 700 miles long. 
The Rio Grande, which rises in the United States, is over 1,500 miles long. 
The Panuco, at Tampico, is a beautiful stream, navigable some 200 miles or 
more through a tropical country, the banks fringed with that verdure so 
often described by travelers in the tropics. The navigation of these few 
miles of deep water in Mexico is to be one of the attractions for tourists 
in that section. The jetties at the mouth of the Panuco make the harbor 
at Tampico one of deep water. 

The Rio Lerma rises on the west slope of the Sierra Madre, not far 
from Toluca, and runs in a northwesterly course till it empties into Lake 
Chapala, and, curiously enough, leaves the lake again, only a few miles 
from its mouth, and becomes another river, the Santiago, flowing on to 
the Pacific Ocean. The Mexican National Railroad erosses the Lerma near 
its source, east of Toluca, and at Acambaro, running along its course be- 
tween the two points. The Central crosses the Lerma three times; near La 
Piedad, again at La Barca and a third time at Ocotlan, where it becomes the 
Santiago, after passing through Lake Chapala. Humboldt said that the Lerma 
could be made a navigable river, as he also said he could drive a carriage on the 
table-lands from the capital to El Paso ; in either case there would be many ups 
and downs to be encountered. The Santiago, or Lerma, empties into the Pacific 
near San Bias. The river at Morelia, along which the National Railroad runs 
near that city, is called the Morelia River, though there are other names. The 
Grijalva River, named for the commander of the Spanish fleet, who was the first 
white man who ever saw it, rises in Guatemala, and empties into the Gulf at 
Frontera. The Rio Usumacinta also has its source in Guatemala, and empties 
into the Gulf near Frontera. The Rio Balsas, also called Mescala and Zacatula, 
rises in the State of Tlaxcala and flows westward, and empties into the Pacific at 
Zacatula. The Papaloapan rises in the mountains and empties into the Gulf 
at Alvarado. The Rio Coatzacoalcos rises in Oaxaca and empties into the 
Gulf at the town of the same name. Atoyac is a favorite name for rivers ; 
there are several of them in the States of Puebla and Vera Cruz. Nearly all 
of the rivers m the south of Mexico, as the Papaloapan, San Jose and others, 
are navigable for light draught boats for some miles — but withal of interest 
to the more venturesome traveler. 

The Rio Nazas is one of the rivers that loses its waters in the marshes 
of the great Bolson de Mapimi. The Sonora, Yaqui and Mayo rise in the 
mountains of western Mexico and empty into the Gulf of California. 

Lakes — The lakes of Mexico are of exceeding great beauty. Than those 
of Chapala and Patzcuaro no prettier waters are anywhere in the world — 
not even the romantic Como, the tales of whose beauties are so eloquently 
told, can surpass their islands and wooded shores, and only the villas are 
lacking to make them as picturesque as Como or Maggiore. Lake Patzcuaro 
is the highest navigable water in Mexico, and next highest on the continent, 
Yellowstone Lake only having a higher altitude. The islands look like the 
peaks of submerged mountains with only the tops above the water; on their 
rugged sides, seeming to cling to them, are some huts of the fishermen of 
the lake, and up near the top of one the square white tower of a church 
rises above the trees, the sonorous sounds of whose bells float over the beautiful 
waters. 

There are canoes for freight and passengers, and a few rude sail boats 
making voyages between Patzcuaro and the islands and mainland ports up 



10 

the lake, and to Tzintzuntzan, where the celebrated picture by Titian is, in a 
ruined church. Lake Patzcuaro is near the city of that name on the west- 
ern division of the Mexican National Railroad; it is about thirty miles long 
and twelve miles wide. 

Lake Cuitzeo is also on the same division of the National, thirty miles 
west of Acambaro, the junction point with the main line. Lake Cuitzeo is 
forty-five miles long and ten wide. The islands are very much like those 
in Lake Patzcuaro; some of them are inhabited. One, '"La Isla de los 
Burros," is the objective point of a very interesting voyage from the sta- 
tion at Querendaro, where canoes may be obtained. The island is inhabited 
by a hardy tribe of Indian fishermen, who know little of the main land, 
and care less — a happy contented lot, living ofif of what they can catch, 
the little white fish about the size of a minnow or whitebait, which, when 
they are dried in the sun, are ready for the table, if there was one on the 
island. The lake is literally alive with water fowl, and so unused to the gun 
that many a good shot may be had. On the eastern shore there are some 
old salt works, and near the station of Querendaro some hot springs, the 




LAKE PATZCUARO. 

Steam rising from the marsh in white columns. Near the track, where one 
of the largest springs rises, is a pool so arranged that the waters can be 
turned in or out, as the water may be too cold or hot. On the bushes, on 
the trees, on the rocks, and stuck in the ground, are rude crosses made 
of sticks and twigs, left there by grateful bathers whose ills have been cured 
by the genial waters. 

Lake Chapala is the largest lake in Mexico. It is nearly lOO miles long 
and is thirty-three miles at the widest point. It is near the line of the 
Guadalajara division of the Mexican Central Railway near the city of that 
name. The stations of La Barca and Ocotlan are at the head of the lake from 
whicli ports small steamers and sail boats depart for the beautiful lake side 
resort of Chapala and other villages. 

"La Libertad'" was the name of Lake Chapalas first steamboat. She ran 
from La Barca to the towns and villages up the lake, and the voyage was 
one of the most delightful in Mexico, through the "floating islands" to 
the towering clifTs with sparkling cascades tumbling into the lake from far 
up the rocks, by the picturesque towns and villages, of which the town of 
Chapala is a resort of ancient renown, from its pure and healthful climate, 
its hot springs and most picturesque scenery. 



11 

The steamer "La Libertad" had her machinery built in California, and was 
transported by piecemeal on burros over the mountains from San Bias. 

In the Bolson de Mapimi are several lakes, of which Mayraii and Parras 
are the largest — twenty to thirty miles long by ten to fifteen wide. In the 
Valley of Mexico and near the City are Zumpango, Xaltocan and San Cris- 
tobal on the north, Lake Texcoco on the east and Xochimilco and Chalco 
on the south, La Viga and the other canals connecting them with the City. 
All are very shallow and without an outlet, except what results from the 
great drainage canal and tunnel. 

The steamboat has not made its advent on the lakes of the Plain of 
Mexico; transportation is carried on by long flat-bottom boats propelled 
by poles in the hands of strong men. There are regular packets between 
the City and the towns and villages on the lake shores, some of them of ca- 
pacity for fifty or sixty passengers, and where voyages cover many miles 
and two or three days' time, they have accommodations for eating or sleep- 
ing in the most primitive style. The passengers are mostly country folk 
bringing their wares or garden truck to the city markets. The burros and 
dogs lend their presence to make up a picturesque ship's company. 




ON LAKE CHAPALA. 

Cortez came across Texcoco in some such flat-bottom boats from the 
eastern shore when he laid siege to the City of Mexico; but there was deeper 
water in those days, and the feat was not without its merits. If you are 
rowing or sailing on any lake in Mexico let it be done in the early morn- 
ing or at least before noon; winds will come up very soon after mid-day 
and will not subside till the sun goes down — not that there is danger, but 
smooth water makes more pleasant voyages. 

Motttitaiiis — Ask a native, "What mountains are those?" His answer — 
no matter where he is or where the mountains are — is "Las Madres." Another 
appellation is "las sierras ;" the word "sierra" means a saw, the sharp peaks 
resembling the teeth. Certain peaks here and there take names from their 
fantastic shape, curious color, or from an incident of history or legend, as 
fxtaccihuatl is the "White Woman;" Malintzi, called "Malinche," was named 
from an appellation of La Marina, the guide, interpreter and wife of Cortez. 
There is no mistaking the Saddle Mountain at Monterey, as a perfect saddle 
is on its crest ; or the Mountain of the Mitres in the same valley — the bishop's 
mitre is as plain as if cut out with a scissors. The only active volcano is that 
of Colima. 

Above ranges high peaks are raised to the jline of perpetual snow, and 



12 

volcanoes still produce fire and brimstone. The following are the most im- 
portant: 

Ajusco, Federal District 13,612 

Cerro de Culiacan, State of Guanajuato 10,640 

Cerro del Proafio, State of Zacatecas 7,762 

Cerro de Patamban, State of Michoacan 12,290 

Cofre de Perote, or Nauchampatepetl, State of Vera Cruz. . . 13,403 

Cumbre de Jesus Maria, State of Chihuahua 8,230 

Gigante, State of Guanajuato 10,653 

Ixtaccihuatl, States of Mexico and Puebla 16,060 

Las Navajas, State of Hidalgo 10,528 

Los Llanitos, State of Guanajuato 11,013 

Matlalcueyatl, or Malintzi, State of Tlaxcala 13,462 

Nevado de Colima, State of Jalisco I4,350 

Nevado de Toluca, or Xinantecatl, State of Mexico 15,000 

Orizaba, or Citlaltepetl, State of Vera Cruz 17,356 

Pico de Quinceo, State of Michoacan 10,895 

Pico de Tancitaro, State of Michoacan 12,653 

Popocatepetl, States of Mexico and Vera Cruz 17,782 

Veta Grande, State of Zacatecas 9»965 

Volcan de Colima, State of Jalisco 12,728 

Zempoaltepec, State of Oaxaca 11,965 

Table-lauds — The plains of Mexico vary in extent from a score of 
square miles to many thousands; they are arid and they are fertile, they 
are as a desert and as a marsh. The Bajio, in the State of Guanajuato, is 
a very fertile district well watered, and near to it the Cazadero (hunting 
place), in Queretaro, a district of grazing. The Plains of Apam are noted 
for the growth of the maguey and its production of pulque; on one side 
of these fertile lands is the arid Plain of San Juan; to the north and east, 
just on the edge of the terrace, are great marshes almost covered with water. 
In the State of San Luis Potosi a desert extends from a few miles north 
of the capital nearly to Saltillo. In the States of Coahuila, Durango and 
Chihuahua are the lagoons and marshes of the Bolson de Mapimi. 

On the table-lands of the interior altitudes the cereals of the temperate 
zone are grown to the extent, in many places, of two crops a year where 
the lands are well irrigated; in the Nazas Valley cotton grows so luxuri- 
antly that it does not require replanting till from four to five years. 

The Coast is almost devoid of harbors and safe roadsteads except at Tam- 
Dico, where the mouth of the Rio Panuco has been jettied over a thousand feet 
out into the Gulf. The outward scour of the river cleans the sands from the bar, 
affording an entrance for the largest ships and a safe harbor large enough 
for all purposes. At Vera Cruz ships anchor opposite the city and dis- 
charge cargoes and passengers under the lee of a great sea wall, so that 
the lighters are dispensed with and ships discharge and load at the piers. It 
has taken nearly 400 years to find out that a safe harbor could be made at Vera Cruz. 

At Coatzacoalcos, the Gulf terminus of the Tehuantepec Railway, a deep 
water harbor has been secured, as the physical advantages of the port are capable 
of great improvement by jetties. On the Pacific Coast the harbor of Salina Cruz, 
near Tehuantepec, the sea wall and harbor works are about completed. At 
Acapulco is one of the finest harbors in the world ; at Manzanillo, Mazatlan, 
San Bias and Guaymas are protected harbors. The mountains on this coast 
are washed by the sea, while on the Gulf are wide expanses of lowlands with 
the hills farther to the interior. 



13 

Agricultttre and Forests — The lands of Mexico, with its diversified cli- 
mate, grow the vegetable products of the world — corn, wheat, rye and bar- 
ley, of the temperate zone, on the uplands; sugar cane, coffee, the finest in 
the world, vanilla, cotton, indigo, rubber, tobacco, jalap and cocoa in the 
hot lands, while every variety of cactus produces something of use, from 
the fibre of the ixtle to the pulque, tequila and mescal of the maguey. 

The Maguey, the American Aloe, is probably the most popular plant that 
grows in Mexico; from the various branches of the maguey family are 
produced the intoxicating drinks of the country, pulque, tequila and mescal. 
The maguey is what we call the Century plant, from the idea that it blooms 
once in a hundred years — which is correct — it blooms but once in its life. 
Tequila and mescal, both transparent liquors, are obtained by a distillation 
of the root and the lower leaves after roasting; the liquor is very strong, 




GATHERING PULQUE. 

having a large percentage of alcohol. Pulque is the fermented sap or juice 
of the maguey. When the plant is about to bloom the stem that would in 
a few days run up to a height, is cut out, forming a bowl, into which gathers 
the sap that ^vould otherwise produce this long stalk; this juice or sap, 
called agua miel, honey water, is gathered a gallon or two each day till 
the plant is exhausted, when it dies and another one is put in its place 
that will not produce for eight or ten years. A peon and a burro laden 
with empty hog-skin bags or bottles go through the fields; finding a plant 
that is ready the peon takes a long slender gourd that has a small hole ifi 
each end; one end in the bowl of sap in the plant the other in his lips he 
draws the sap into the gourd until it is full, then empties it into the hog- 
skins, and when they are full they are emptied into a cask on a near-by cart, 
taken to the hacienda, fermented overnight and taken to the City in the 



14 

morning. Pulque spoils (if it can really spoil) within twenty-four hours. 
If drank at all it must be done at once; which may account for the energy 
of the Mexican in this direction. 

All the vegetables and fruits known in North America are found in the 
gardens and orchards of Mexico, and all those of the tropics are in the 
fields and forests of the tierra caliente — oranges, lemons, pine-apples, ba- 
nanas, and scores of others as the granadita, mamey and the chirimoya 
that are never heard of except in Mexico. There is an infinite variety of 
flowers in Mexico, comprising all those of temperate and torrid zones. 

In the forests are all the hardwoods, mahogany, rosewood, ebony, as well 
as the oak, pine and cedar of less value. In a great extent of country, in 
the interior, wood of any kind is scarce, and timbers for manufacturing pur- 
poses are freighted from distant points. The possibilities for agricultural im- 
provement are unbounded. 




BRINGING OUT SILVER. 

Mines and Mining— This subject may be treated in one word, silver. 
It is everywhere, in every state, in every hill and mountam. It is probable 
that the total production of silver in Mexico, since the opening of the mines 
to date would reach $4,000,000,000. Gold exists in small quantities, it is 
a curious fact that the ornaments found by the Spaniards in the houses o 
the native kings and nobles were all of gold; silver was hardly nientioned 
among the trophies taken to Spain. There is little iron, except at Uuiango 
where there is a mountain of it that is from seventy-f^ve to ninety per cent, o 
pure metal. Coal of fair quality is mined extensievly. Lead there is, ami 
some copper; also quicksilver, cinnabar, salt, bismuth, alum, asphalt, naphtha 
and petroleum; sulphur is taken in huge blocks— pure sulphur from the 



16 

crater of Popocatepetl, the mining of which has been going on since the 
time when Cortez' soldiers let themselves down by ropes and baskets to 
gather material for powder for the conqueror's cannon. 

The most primitive methods of mining are yet in use in Mexico, but mod- 
ern machinery is being introduced. The shafts, sometimes hundreds of 
feet deep, are worked with a wandlass and mule-power, and in some places 
the miners pass up and down on ladders or steps cut in the side of the 
shaft. The peon miners do not mind the heat or the water, but trudge 
along day after day for the smallest wages or a percentage of what he 
handles. 

The old patio process, for the amalgamation of silver, invented by Bar- 
tolome Medina in 1557, is still used in some old mines. The ore is first 
crushed in a mill which consists of an immense rolling stone turned by 
mules; the smaller particles fall through a seive, the larger ones a.re crushed 
again, and so on, are passed through other revolving stones till the ore 
becomes a pr-.- ., this powder is carried by water through a trough to a 
paved patio or court, and when the mass is about two feet deep, blue vitriol, 
salt and quicksilver are thrown into it by handfuls till sufficiently impreg- 
nated, then a herd of mules is driven round and round in the patio till the 
mass is thoroughly mixe'd, taking from two to four weeks. The silver 
mud is then taken to the washers, or tanks, and stirred in the water till 
the amalgam of silver and quicksilver, being heavy, sinks to the bottom; 
this mass is taken then to a sort of distillery and the mercury, separated by 
distillation, leaves the pure silver to be smelted into ingots. 

Manttfactures — Mexico has advanced wonderfully in manufactures in the 
last decade, till, within herself, she could supply all wants of her people 
without the imports from the outside world, could clothe them from head 
to foot, feed them, give then wine to drink and houses to live in. Statis- 
tical information as to manufactures is not expected here. The percentage 
of increase is not easily calculated. The advance has been from the primi- 
tive hand loom of reeds to the factory of the most improved machinery. 
The lack of the important factor of fuel will necessarily relegate the manu- 
factories to the timbered regions, or to the line of the water-powers of the 
country, where fuel is not needed. The forests are for the most part in 
remote sections and in the hot lands. Coal is not yet mined in sufficient 
quantities, though it exists in many parts of the Republic, and there are 
abundant evidences of petroleum, and some flowing wells. 

The water-powers have never been utilized to their fullest capacity, and 
there are great possibilities in this direction, as at Juanacatlan, near Guada- 
lajara, where a wide river makes a sheer fall of seventy-one feet. It is used 
only for street car power, an electric light plant, and one mill and a factory, 
but the whole river from its source to the mouth has scores and scores of sites 
for other factories and mills. 

Carpets and woolen cloths are made at Soria, near Celaya, at Salvatierra, 
and several other points; calicoes and cotton goods in the Federal District 
and in many of the larger cities; blankets and zerapes at Durango, Sal- 
tillo, San Miguel de Allende, Aguas Calientes, Guadalajara and San Luis 
Potosi; saddles, bridles, shoes and leather goods at Leon, Maravatio and 
the City of Mexico; cigars and cigarettes at Vera Cruz, the City of Mexico, 
and the larger cities; breweries are at Monterey, San Luis Potosi, Chi- 
huahua, Puebla, Orizaba, Guadalajara and Toluca; foundry and rolling mill 
near the iron mountain at Durango. Chihuahua and Monterey are the larg- 
est manufacturing centers of the country; the factories include almost every 
branch of trade. 



16 

The great Hercules Mills near Queretaro are among the finest cotton 
factories in the world and second to these only are the mills on the line 
of the Mexican Railway near Puebla, and at Nogales near Orizaba. 

Smelters and reduction works for getting out silver are located in all 
the great mining towns. Sugar mills are in the cane country, but as yet 
the refineries are very few. Crockery and pottery are made at Puebla, Guada- 
lajara, and m very many smaller towns and villages. The onyx of Puebla 
is famous for its delicate beauty. It is manufactured into very handsome 
ornaments and used extensively in the manufacture of tops for stands and 
tables, altars, fonts, etc., for shrines and churches. All of Mexico's manufac- 
tures are infant industries, but growing very rapidly. 




CURVED BRIDGE ON THE MEXICAN NATIONAL RY. 

^ TRANSPORTATION. 

Mexican Railway was the first completed line in Mexico. It ex- 
tends from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, 263 miles,-passing through 
a very rich region, both in the tropics and the table-lands. Cordoba 
and Orizaba are the principal cities in the ticrra calicntc. The line is famous 
the world over for the beauty of its scenery, and that between Maltrata and 
Esperanza is beautiful beyond all description. From Esperanza the line runs 
through a succession of fertile plains; the most noted are the famous pulque 
Plains of Apam. A tramway extends from Esperanza to Tehuacan. A branch 
from Apizaco to Puebla and from Omctusco to Pachuca, Connections are made 



17 

at Puebla with the Mexican Southern Ry. ; at Cordoba with the Vera Cruz & 
Pacific; at Pachuca with Mexican Central and Hidalgo & Northeastern. 

Mexican Central Railway from El Paso, Texas, crossing the Rio Grande 
to the old town of Paso del Norte, now called the City of Juarez, runs almost 
due south 1,224 miles to the City of Mexico.-^ Passing the cities of Chihuahua, "^ 
Jimenez, Gomez Palacio, Torreon, Calera, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Lagos, 
Leon, Silao, Irapuato, Salamanca, Celaya, Queretaro, Tula and San Juan del 
Rio on the main line. 

Connections of branches and other hues are made as follows : At Chihuahua 
with the Chihuahua & Pacific, and Kansas City, Mexico & Orient; at Escalon, 
Mexican Northern; at Conejos, Central Durango ; at Bermejillo, Mexican 
International and Mapimi Railroad; at Torreon, Mexican International and 
Coahuila & Pacific and Monterey divisions ; Parral, Parral & Durango ; Jim- 
enez, Parral branch ; Gomez Palacio, San Pedro branch ; at Paredon, Saltillo 
branch ; Adrian, Santa Barbara branch ; San Bartolo, Rio Verde branch ; Sal- 
amanca, Mex. National; Irapuato, Guadalajara division; Silao, Guanajuato 
branch ; Aguas Calientes, San Luis Potosi and Tampico division ; Rincon de 
Romos, Tepezala branch ; Pachuca, Panuco branch ; Lecheria, Tulancingo, 
Pachuca and Apulco branch; Yuricuaro, Zamora branch; Guadalajara, Mazatlan 
and Ameca divisions ; La Vega, San Marcos branch ; Celaya, Mexican National ; 
San Luis Potosi, Mexican National; Tampico, Monterey & Gulf division; City 
of Mexico, with Cuernavaca division. 

It is impossible to enumerate the points of interest ; they are in almost 
every mile. The most important are : the view of Chihuahua on the west 
side; San Pedro Bridge; Bolson de Mapimi on the east side; approach to 
and passing of Zacatecas and Guadalupe, seen from the east windows ; Bar- 
ranca de La Encarnacion ; approach to Lagos and Leon ; Irapuato for straw- 
berries and Celaya for dulces, both every day in the year ; Queretaro for opals ; 
and just south of the city the road passes under the great stone aqueduct of 
the city's water supply and into a fine valley, and afterwards to the Plain of 
the Cazadero to Leiia, the point of highest altitude, 8,140 feet. At Tula are 
the ruins of Toltec temples ; the road, continuing, runs through a beautiful 
valley to the great Nochistongo Canal, seen on the west side. From Huehuetoca 
may be obtained the first view of the great volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Ixtaccihuatl, and the plain, valley and City of Mexico. 

The scenery on the line from San Luis Potosi to Tampico is unsurpassed 
in Mexico, and the roads to Guadalajara and Guanajuato are rich in scenic 
beauty, as also the Mazatlan division. 

"^ Cuernavaca Division of the Mexican Central extends from the City of 
Mexico to Cuernavaca, Puente de Ixtla, Iguala, and the Rio Balsas, with an — 
ultimate destination on the Pacific coast at Acapulco. "^The road crosses the 
broad plain of the Valley of Mexico, passing historic points, Molino del Rey, 
Chapultepec, Padierna and Contreras. The scenic beauty of the line, as it passes 
up the hills on the southern border of the plain, is magnificent, and the views 
southward in the State of Morelos and beyond are grandly beautiful. ^ 

Mexican International Railroad enters the Republic of Mexico at the 
City of Porfirio Diaz, crossing the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas, and 
runs 383 miles westward to its junction with the Central Railway at Torreon. 
Connection is made at Reata for Monterey.— The principal cities and towns are " 
Monclova, Jaral and Paila ; near the latter are the famous vineyards of Parras. 
The road skirts the southern border of the Bolson de Mapimi, and all along 
the line are fine views of mountain scenery, making the ride an interesting one. 



18 

After Torreon the road enters the San Jnan Valley and extends, south- 
westerly, 157 miles across the plains, over a fine roadway to the beautiful city 
of Durango. 

There are branch lines at Sabinas for Hondo ; at Baroteran for JMusquiz ; 
at Pedriceha for Velardeha ; at Torreon for Tlalmalilo ; at Durango for Guan- 
acevi; at Horizonte for Bermejillo; at Monclova for Cuartro Cienegas ; at Hor- 
nos for San Pedro; and at Matamoros for Tlalmalilo; at Mesquite for Carbon. 

I liter oceanic Railroad has its main line from the City of Alexico to Vera 
Cruz. On the eastern division the principal points of interest are Texcoco, 
Irolo, San Martin, Puebla, Perote, Jalapa and Vera Cruz. On the western 
division are La Compahia, Tlalmanalco, Amecameca, Nepantla, Cuautla, Yaute- 
pec and Puente de Ixtla.^The scenery is pleasing beyond description; the great 
volcanoes are in full view for many miles ; in fact, scarcely out of sight during 
the entire journey. Leaving Mexico, the road passes along the shores of Lake 
Texcoco, seen from the east windows, while Lake Xochimilco and Chalco can 
be seen from the other side. At Los Reyes is the junction of the Morelos 
division. On the main line the points of interest are the hacienda of General 
Gonzales — Texcoco — Molino de Flores — the pulque Plains of Apam, Puebla, 
Pyramid of Cholula, Voicano of Orizaba, Perote and beautiful Jalapa. From 
San Lorenzo there is a "cut off" to Oriental, which shortens the line to Vera 
Cruz. 

From Los Arcos on the main line five miles west of Puebla, the Matamoros 
branch leads off in a southwesterly direction, extending into a rich sugar dis- 
trict around Cuautla. From Virreyes a branch extends northward to San Juan. 
and another to Teziutlan. Connections at Puebla with ]\Iexican Southern, and 
Ixtla with Mexican Central. 
1^" National Railroad of Mexico has its northern terminus at Laredo, 
Texas, Nuevo Laredo being the city in IMexico on the opposite bank of the Rio 
Grande. The line runs in a southwesterly direction 802 miles, to the City of 
Mexico, passing the cities of Monterey, Saltiho, Catorce, San Luis Potosi, San 
]\liguel de AUende, Queretaro on the main line, with Celaya, Salvatierra, Acam- 
baro, Maravatio and Toluca on the old line. 

At Monterey the road crosses the Monterey & Gulf division of the Mexican 
Central and connects with the Matamoros division to the Gulf, and Mexican 
International Ry. At Saltillo the connections are with the Coahuila & Zacate- 
cas and the Coahuila & Pacific division of the Mexican Central. At Vanegas 
connection is made with the Vanegas, INIatehuala & Rio Verde Railroad. At 
San Luis Potosi is the crossing of the Tampico division of the Mexican Central ; 
at Rincon there is a branch to San Luis de la Paz and Pozos. At Gonzalez the 
old line runs due south to Acambaro crossing the Mexican Central at Celaya. 
From Soria there is a branch to Salamanca and Jaral. Acambaro is the junction 
for Morelia, Patzcuaro and Uruapan. At Maravatio connection is made with 
the Michoacan & Pacific; at Toluca with minor branches. 

All roads lead to the capital,- and all have their points of interest. These 
are not lacking on the National, and daylight schedules are to be chosen 
whenever it is possible. To be especially noted are the following: the beautiful 
Monterey Valley, the City, Saddle Mountain, Mitre Mountain. Bishop's Palace, 
on the east side; the ride through the canons to Saltillo; on the east side see 
the mountain peak with a hole in the top, as if made with a monster cannon 
shot; Hacienda Ramo-> Arispe and approach to Saltillo; battlefield of Buena 
Vista, iust south of Saltillo; Catorce, station for the great mining town of 
the same name; Bocas, with its beautiful hacienda (on the cast side) and 



19 

village ; San Luis Potosi, on the west side ; Dolores Hidalgo, once the home 
of the patriot priest; San Miguel de AUende, the city on the hill, seen from 
the east windows ; the canon and valley of the Laja. From Gonzalez the main 
line is through a picturesque region of fertile valleys, hills and canons — see the 
aqueduct of Queretaro the Hercules Mills and from Huehuetoca the first views 
of the Volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. On the old line are the 
cotton mills at Soria; cafion near Maravatio ; cafion of the Zopilote, south of 
Solis, where is shown the rock of El Salto de Juan Medina, where the famous 
bandit leaped his horse from the top to the chasm below, rather than be captured ; 
Zirizicuaro, on the east side; valley and city of Toluca; ascent of the Sierra 
Madre to a point 10,000 feet above the sea; passing around the village of Ocoyo- 
cac, and a few minutes later a thousand feet above it ; grand view of valley 
and volcano of Toluca; mill and aqueduct of Jajalpa; battlefield of Las Cruces ; 
grand view from the mountain top after passing La Cima ; the plain and valley 
of Mexico; the City and the volcanoes on the east side; descent of the eastern 
slope ; the "Moonstone" near Rio Hondo ; Naucaulpan ; Los Remedios on the 
west ; Chapultepec on the east ; old aqueduct on the east side. On the western 
division, connection at Acambaro, the attractions are no less, as it passes 
through the beautiful lake region, Lake Cuitseo and Lake Patzcuaro, and to 
the cities of Morelia, Patzcuaro and Uruapan. >-- 

^ Mexican Northern Railway extends from Escalon on the Mexican 
Central to Sierra Mojada, 78 miles. 

Mexican Southem Railway runs from Puebla to Oaxaca, 228 miles, 
passing through the important towns of Tecom.avaca and Tehuacan, with an 
ultimate destination at a Pacific port on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

A tram line leads from Tehuacan to Esperanza on the Mexican Railway. — 
The road has a good passenger equipment, and runs through a country wildly 
picturesque, where primitive Mexico may be seen as nowhere else. Convenient 
schedules are operated to and from Puebla, connecting with those of the lines 
from the capital. The line runs at the bottom of the caiions, instead of on the 
clififs, as in the case of almost all the other lines, presenting views unlike those 
seen anywhere else. Just below the beautiful city of Oaxaca, reached by a 
broad, level carriage road, are the big trees of Santa Maria del Tule and the 
wonderful ruins of Mitla. Connections at Rosendo Marquez and Tlacotepec 
with Tlacotepec & Huajuapam de Leon Railroad; at Oaxaca with Oaxaca & 
Ejutla Railroad. 

Hidalgo & Northeastern division of the Mexican National Ry. runs from 
the City of Mexico to Pachuca and the mining cities beyond ; the road runs 
through a country rich in scenic beauty. There is a branch line to Irolo the 
main line now reaches Tortugas with an ultimate destination at Tampico. 

Montery & Gulf Division of the Mexican Central Railroad 
extends from Tampico, on the Gulf, 387 miles to Trevifio, on the International 
Railroad, crossing the Mexican National Railroad at Monterey,- passing the ■ — ~ 
cities of Victoria, Linares, Montemorelos and numerous smaller towns and 
villages of more or less interest to the traveler, in the newly opened country 
through which the line passes. 

The constantly changing scenes in the mountains and valleys from Trevifio 
and Monterey to Linares and Victoria make the journey over the Monterey 
& Mexican Gulf road a pleasing one, to which are added those of tropical 
beauty on the southern division of the line south of Victoria and all the way 
down to Tampico. 

Sonora Railroad runs from Benson, in Arizona, to Guaymas, on the 
Gulf of California, 353 miles, passing Hermosillo, the capital of the State of 



20 

Sonora, and through a country intensely interesting and possessing a wealth 
of scenery. The harbor of Guaymas is one of the finest on the Pacific coast, 
land-locked by high mountains that make it a very beautiful as well as a very 
safe one. This line is being extended south to Guadalajara, at this writing has 
reached the city of Culiacan. 

Parral & Dttratigo Railway runs from Parral to Durango through 
a rich timber and mining district. 

Coaiiuila St Pacific Divisioti of the Mexican Central from Saltillo on the 
National runs westward to a connection with the main line and the International 
at Torreon, passing the city and wine district of Parras. 

Vera Cruz 65: Pacific Railway has its northern and eastern termini at 
Cordoba and Vera Cruz, connecting at the south with the Tehuantepec Rail- 
way at Santa Lucrecia. - The line traverses a rich and very interesting tropic 
country, where rubber, tobacco, sugar, coffee and all the tropic fruits are grown 
in profusion. This is the shortest transcontinental line north of Tehuantepec. 

Occidental Railway runs from Altata on the Pacific coast to Culiacan, the 
capital of the State of Sinaloa. 

Vera CrttZ Railways run from Vera Cruz down the^ coast to Alvarado. 
Coahuila & Zacatecas runs from Saltillo on the National to Conception 
del Oro, with an ultimate destination at Zacatecas. 

Chihualiua & Pacific from Chihuahua has the Pacific coast for its final 
destination. 

Jalapa & Cordoba Railway will in the near future connect those two 
cities. The line is through a tropical country, and the ride over it to Coatepec, 
^ico and Teocelo is one of the most interesting in Mexico, through coffee and 
orange groves, pineapple and banana gardens. 

Xico & San Rafael Railway east from, the City of Mexico is to 
extend to Puebla. 

Oaxaca & Ejutla Railway from Oaxaca southward traverses a rich 
mining district. 

Nacozari Railway runs south from Agua Prieta in the State of Sonora 
to Nacozari, 

Mexican Central Railway has a line from Manzanillo on the Pacific 
coast to Colima, the capital of the state of that name and thence to Guadalajara; 
also a line from Zacatecas to Guadalupe and Troncoso. 

Merida & Valladolid, Merida & Progreso, Merida & Peto and 
Merida & Izatnal Railways in Yucatan form a system reaching from Pro- 
greso to the interior of the state. 

United Railways of Yucatan run from Merida southwesterly through 
Yucatan to Campeche, with branch lines to interior points. 

San Marcos 6c Httajuapam Railway runs from Rosendo Marquez on the 
Mexican Southern southward through a fertile agricultural and rich mining 
country, and north to San Marcos. 

The minor raiKvays are Consolidated Copper, from Naco on the El Paso 
& Southwestern Railway; Cordoba & Huatusco, from Cordoba, on the Mexican 
Railway; Cardenas & Grijalva; Monte Alto Railway, from Tlalnepantla. on 
the National and Central ; F. C. del Desague del Valle de Mexico, from Grand 
Canal, on the Mexican Railway; Txtlahuaca, Mani & Nijini Railway, from 
Ixtlahuaca, on the National ; Torres & Prietas Railway, from Torres, on 
the Sonora Railway; Potosi & R'o Verde Railway, from San Luis Potosi ; 
Mexican Mineral Raihvav, from Monterey; El Oro Railway, from Tultenango. 
on the National; Chihuahua Mineral Railway, from Chihuahua; Oblatos Rail- 
way, from Guadalajara; Salamanca & Jaral Railway, from Salamanca, on the 



21 

Central; Toluca & Tenango Railway, from Toluca; Toluica & San Juan, from 
Toluca ; Cazadero & Solis, from Cazadero, on the Central ; San Gregorio Rail- 
way, from Marfil, on the Central; Mapimi Railway, from Bermijillo, on the 
Central; Chalchicomula Railway, from San Andres, on the Mexican Railway; 
Juanacatlan Railway, from El Castillo, on the Central; Durango Central, from 
Conejos, on the Central. 

Vauegas Cedral & Matehuala Railway runs from Vanegas to Cedral, 
Matehuala and Rio Verde. 

From Matehuala the Provenir de Matehuala Railroad runs to El Pilar. 

Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific Railway runs southwesterly 
from Ciudad Juarez, opposite El Paso, 155 miles to Terranza, with an ultimate 
destination on the Pacific Coast or that of the Gulf of California. 

Teliuaiitepec Railway. The completion of the Tehuantepec Railway makes 
the shortest possible transcontinental line north of the Isthmus of Panama. 
The road runs from the fine harbor of Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf, to that of 
Salina Cruz, on the Pacific Coast. Both harbors are amply protected and 
possessed of sufficient water for all practical purposes. The harbor of Coatza- 
coalcos was discovered by a band of Cortez' explorers. As there was no safe 
road where his ships could ride off the coast of Vera Cruz, he sent an ex- 
ploring party down the coast, and Coatzacoalcos was the harbor they looked 
for, Tehuantepec is a few miles inland from Salina Cruz on the Pacific Coast. 
The importance of this railroad is realized in the immense sailing distance 
saved on both sides, which is from 1,500 to 2,000 miles on the Gulf, and about 
the same on the Pacific. 

The Pan-Ainericati Ry. is in operation from San Geronimo on the 
Tehuantepec Ry. to the Guatemala border. 

Kansas City, Mexico & Oriente Ry. is in operation east from Chihua- 
hua, where it connects with the Mexican Central, 88 miles ; west from Mihaca 
73 miles and east from Topolobampo 75 miles with gaps under construction. 

Steatner Lines. The principal steamer lines to and from Mexican ports 
are the Ward Line, New York & Cuba Mail Steamship Company, with weekly 
steamers between Vera Cruz, Tampico, New York and Havana, touching at 
Progreso, Campeche, Tuxpan and Frontera. 

Other American and the European steamers make the same ports. The At- 
lantic & Mexican Gulf Steamship, Mexican-American; Wolvin Line operates be- 
tween Tampico, Vera Cruz and the Gulf and Atlantic ports of the United States. 
The Canadian line to Canada from Mexican ports, is the latest to bid for a 
growing trade. 

The Pacific Mail steamers, between San Francisco and Panama, touch at 
Salina Cruz, Acapulco, Mazatlan, Manzanillo and San Bias. 

The Pacific Coast S. S. Co. operates a line of steamers between San 
Francisco, Cal., and the Mexican ports of Guaymas, Santa Rosalia, Pichilingoe, 
Topolobampo, Altata, Mazatlan, San Jose del Oabo, Magdalena Bay and En- 
senada. 

Inland navigation in Mexico is at present very limited ; small stearners are 
run on Lakes Patzcuaro and Chapala, and on some of the larger rivers of 
the States of Tabasco, Yucatan and Vera Cruz, and up the coast to the ports 
of Vera Cruz and Tampico, touching intermediate ports. The Ward Line and 
the Mexican Navigation Company have coastwise steamers up and down the 
Coast from Tampico down to Vera Cruz, Coatzacoalcos, Frontera, Campeche 
and Progreso. The Rio Panuco and Tamesi River are also navigated a short 
distance inta the interior. But every one of these lines have their attractions 
that do not obtain on any other waters of the western world. 




HERNANDO CORTEZ— FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE HOSPITAL DE JESUS 

—CITY OF MEXICO. 




Historical. 



What might have served to enlighten upon the history of the earlier 
races that inhabited the land, was destroyed by the fanatics, who saw in the 
temples they found, evidences of a civilization almost superior to their own, 
and of a religion so nearly identical, that it seemed only a creed of the one 
they professed; the jealous bigotry that threw down the graven stones, and 
tore the pictured parchments to fragments, wiped out volumes of history 
and placed bloody chapters in their stead. The bigots pulled down that 
which in their day and generation they could not build up, placed a period 
and a finis to the story of the races that were there for centuries before they 
brought their bloody banners to these shores, till there is only here and 
there a sculptured wall, with mosaics more intricate than any builded since, 
or massive monoliths set up in pillars to grace a corridor of grander pro- 
portions than their own, and, if they could, they would have destroyed all 
of these works of a people who had passed away under the assaults of bar- 
barism, at a period prior to all traditions, leaving no name, and no trace of 
their existence save these monuments, which, neglected and forgotten by 
their successors, have become the riddle of later generations. 

There was a survival of the fittest. The bigot and fanatic passed away 
in the fire of his own kindling. The good men and true saved, as brands 
from the burning, some scrolls of picture writings, and from destruction 
saved the marvelous carvings, that hung up for ornaments, and set as treas- 
ures within our modern walls, tell us of a departed civilization, but with 
only a drop of the knowledge of it. 

It is to be regretted that from the wreck of this primitive civilization some 
of the arts peculiar to it were not saved. The methods by which its as- 
tronomers succeeded in determining the apparent motion of the sun and 
the length of the solar year; of working and polishing crystal and other 
stones; of manufacturing delicate articles of use and ornament of obsidian; of 
casting figures of gold and of silver in one piece; of making filigree orna- 
ments without Soldering; of applying to pottery even and transparent glazes, 
such as are used by makers of fine ware, with colors that, after remaining 

23 



24 

for centuries under ground, still are fresh and brilliant; of weaving extremely 
delicate tissues of cotton mixed with silky feathers and rabbit's fur. 

The earliest data of record is in the coming of the Toltecs to Anahuac 
A. D. 648, and the movements of the various tribes in the succeeding cen- 
turies till the foundation of Tenochtitlan in 1325, nearly 200 years before 
its destroyers came. But these dates are determined by tradition only, on 
which no two of the ancient chroniclers agree, but their differences are not 
material. 

The picture writings, the only and very meager record extant, are for 
the most part on a cloth made of a fibre of the maguey. Most of these 
were destroyed by order of the over zealous of the clergy. A few of these 
pictures remain, some in the National Museums, some in private collections 
and some in the libraries of Europe. 

Historians agree as to these dates: 

The Toltecs appeared in 648 A. D. 

The Chichimecs in 1170 A. D. 

The Nahuals in 1178 A. D. 

The Aztecs or Acolhuans in 1196 A. D. 

It will thus be seen that the Toltecs and Aztecs that are so often spoken 
of in the same breath were 600 years apart. 

This is the record of the nations; the names of the rulers before the 12th 
century are not known; the first Chichimec king named in that century was 
Xolotl, then through the 13th and 14th centuries in this order came Nopalt- 
zin. Quinatzin and Tecotlalla; in 1406 Ixlilochtli commenced his reign; he 
was followed by Netzahualcoyotl in 1426, and he in turn by Nezahualpilli in 
1470. Cacamatzin began his reign in 1516, was succeeded by Cuicuitzcatzin in 
1520 and he by Coanacotzin in 1520. 

Of the Aztecs little is known except that their country was known as 
Anahuac, and the capital Tenochtitlan, where the valley and City of Mexico 
is now. 

The empire of the Montezumas was established about the year 1460 and 
continued till the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, when Montezuma II was 
killed by the arrows of his own warriors when Cortez forced him to go upon 
the portico of his palace to quell if possible the rioting Aztecs, who under 
Cuautemoc w^ere attempting his rescue. Cuautemoc, the nephew of Monte- 
zuma, became his successor and was the last of his line, the last of the 
Aztec kings. 

The Conquest — The name of Cortez is synonymous with the conquest, 
but it was not his privilege to be the first of his race to reach the shores of 
the land of his brilliant adventures. 

Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba discovered the coast of Yucatan, March 
4, 1517. A year later another expedition was sent out by Velasquez, the 
governor of Cuba, under command of Don Juan de Grijalva, who came to 
the shores of Mexico and landed on the island of San Juan de Ulua, oppo- 
site the present city of Vera Cruz. A good report of the land was sent back 
to Cuba by one of the captains, Pedro de Alvarado, later a famous officer 
under Cortez, and still another fleet, larger than the others, was fitted out 
and placed under the command of Hernando Cortez. Before the fleet was 
ready to sail the governor determined to remove Cortez from command, 
which coming to the ears of the Conqueror, he prepared his ships for sea. 
and sailed before his removal could be accomplished, on the night of No- 
vember 18, 1518, from Santiago de Cuba, touching at several other ports on 
the island for supnlies. Cortez finally sailed for Mexico February 18, I5i9- 
The fleet consisted of eleven ships, carrying no sailors, sixteen cavalry men 



26 

with their horses, 553 foot soldiers, 200 Cuban Indians, a battery of ten small 
cannon and four falconets; with this army went two Indians as interpreters, 
captured by Cordoba in Yucatan tW'O years previous. 

On his ship Cortez raised the standard of the conquest, a black ensign, 
emblazoned with the arms of Charles V., bearing the crimson cross borne 
in clouds, with the motto : Aniici, seqiiani criicem et si nos fideni habemus 
vere in hoc signo vincemus — "Friends, let us follow the cross, and if we 
have faith we will conquer." Under this flag and the patronage of St. Peter, 
Cortez sailed. On the island of Cozumel a shipwrecked Spaniard, Geronimo 
de Aguilar, was picked up; having been there for nearly nine years he had 
acquired the language and was a valuable acquisition as an interpreter. 

The first landing was on March 20, 1519, near the Rio Tabasco, where 
there was fighting with the natives and a number made captives, among 




SACRIFICE ON THE TEOCALI. 

whom was La Marina, a native of Jalisco, sold here as a slave. She under- 
stood the language of the uplands as well as the coast, and thus, through 
her and Aguilar, Cortez could communicate with the people. La ]\Iarina 
soon learned the Spanish language and became the interpreter, ally and wife 
of the conqueror, and bore him a son, who was called Martin, as was an- 
other son by his Spanish wife. 

Leaving the River Grijalva, Cortez sailed up the coast and dropped his 
anchors ofif Vera Cruz, April 21, 1519. Efforts to secure a peaceful recep- 
tion on the part of the natives were unavailing. Discontent arose among the 
Spaniards. Cortez, acting with his customary decision, burned his ships, and 
on the i6th of August began his march toward the capital of the Aztecs. 

With little incident or opposition the brave band of adventurers reached 
the table-lands and after a fight with the Tlaxcalans secured them as their 



27 



allies. At Cholula, Cortez put down a conspiracy reported to him by La 
Marina, which was attended by a great massacre of the Cholulans. The na- 
tives were completely terrorized by the cannon and fire-arms, and the horse 
and rider of the cavalry were regarded as almost a god, or at least one 
being, as they had never seen a horse, so the invaders proceeded on their 
march, unopposed, passed over the causeways of Tenochtitlan, and entered 

the present City of Mex- 
ico, Tuesday, November 
8, 1 5 19. The Aztec King, 
Montezuma, came out to 
meet Cortez, tradition 
says, on the site of the 
present Hospital de Jesus, 
founded by him in com- 
memoration of this meet- 
ing. The aggressions 
of the Spaniards, and 
their oppression of 
the Mexicans soon 
turned their apparent 
friendship to hatred, 
and they drove them 
out of the City over 
the Tlacopan cause- 
way, now called Ta- 
cuba, on the night of 
July I, 1520, called la 
noche triste, the Dis- 
mal Night; retreat- 
ing, Cortez fought 
another battle at 
Otumba on the 8th 
of July, where the 
Tlaxacalans came to 
his rescue and turned 
the tide of war in his 
favor, and he halted 
in the city of these 
allies. While at Tlax- 
cala reinforcements 
J came from Cuba; 

powder for 'the can- 
non and small arms 
was made from the 
TREE OF LA NOCHE TRISTE. sulphur taken from 

the crater of Popocatepetl. The bergantines, small flat-bottomed boats, 
were built, to be put together and launched on Lake Texcoco, when Cortez 
returned and commenced the siege of Tenochtitlan, December 31, 1520, oper- 
ating from the town of Texcoco with a force of forty cavalry, eighty arque- 
busiers and cross-bowmen, 450 infantry, armed with lances and swords, and 
a battery of nine small cannon. This was the Spanish contingent. The na- 
tive allies numbered about 125,000. 

Montezuma died on the 30th of June, the day before the Noche Triste, 
and his nephew, Guatemotzin, called also Cuautemoc, who, it is said, shot 
the arrow that caused Montezuma's death, was placed in command. The 




28 

siege continued till the native garrison was starved into submission, and 
the Spaniards made their second and triumphal entry into the City of Mexico, 
August 13. 1521; but they found a different city than when the meek Monte- 
zuma met them at the city gates. Almost all the treasure had been de- 
stroyed or concealed, and to extort the secret from Guatemotzin, Cortez 
cruelly put him to torture, but without avail; the wealth of jewels, gold and 
precious stones had been thrown into the lake. 

Cortez was born in the town of Medellin, Province of Estramadura, in 
1485, the son of Don Martin Cortez de Monroy. He came to Cuba before 
he was twenty years of age, and later married Doha Catalina Juarez under 
compulsion, whom he murdered in the garden at Coyoacan- During the 




DEATH OF MONTEZUMA. 

conquest La Marina took the place of Doha Catalina, by whom no children 
were borne. A son, Don Martin, was born of La Marina, and three daugh- 
ters by other Indian women of rank. 

After the conquest Cortez married Dofia Juana de Zuniga. who was called 
his second wife, and by whom he had three daughters and one son, also named 
Martin, who was heir to the conqueror's titles and estates. There was a 
son, Don Luis, by Antonia Hermosillo. 

The two sons, both named Martin, entered into a conspiracy to secure 
the rulership of the province to Don Martin, the son of Doiia Juana. For 
this his estates were confiscated, but finally restored to him. He married 
and left a son, Hernando, the third Marques of the Valley, whose son, Don 
Pedro, the fourth Alarques, lived on the estates until 1629. dying in that 
year without male issue. Through the daughters the property passed to 
the Neapolitan Dukes of Monteleone, which family still controls the vast 
estates. 



29 

Hernando Cortez, the Conqueror, died in the town of Cast^Ueja de la Questa, 
in Spain, December 2, 1547. 

The Viceroys — Mexico was under the dominion of Spain for 300 years, 
during which time there were five Governors, two Audencias and sixty-two 
Viceroys. Cortez was the first Governor; the others were mihtary command- 
ers of the time. The Audencias, composed of three to five members each, 
were torn by envies and jealousies and proved entirely unsatisfactory, so the 
government by the Viceroys was resorted to. The most prominent, with the 
important incidents of their administrations, are recorded here. Don An- 
tonio de Mendoza was the first Viceroy, continuing in ofifice from 1535 to 
1550. He brought the first printing press and printed the first book in Mexico. 
He extended the domain to Morelia and Guadalajara, and opened the mines 
of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, and during his administration the first money 
of Mexico was coined. 

Don Luis de Velasco, the second Viceroy, held the office from 1550 to 
1564, and extended the territory of the province northward to Durango. He 
freed 150,000 Indians held as slaves by the Spaniards, and founded many im- 
portant institutions, among them Hospital Real and the University. During 
his time the patio process for the reduction of silver was invented at Pachuca 
by Bartolome de Medina. He built the dyke of San Lazaro after the first 
inundation of the city in 1552. Loved and lamented, he died in the City of 
Mexico, July 31, 1564. 

Don Martin Enriquez de Almanza was the fourth Viceroy, from 1568 to 
1580. The first stone of the Cathedral was laid during his reign and the In- 
quisition established. 

The seventh Viceroy was Don Alonzo Manrique de Zufiiga, 1585 to 1590; 
he was instrumental in extending the commerce of the country. 

The eighth Viceroy was Don Luis de Velasco, son of the second Viceroy, 
who established internal manufactures and commenced the extension of ter- 
ritory into New Mexico in the years 1590 to 1595; after an absence as Viceroy 
of Peru he was again Viceroy from 1607 to 161 1, during which time the great 
Tajo de Nochistongo was begun, and the Alameda established. 

The ninth Viceroy was Don Caspar de Zufiiga y Acevedo, Conde de Mon- 
terey, who ruled from 1595 to 1603. He extended the domain to California 
and founded the town of Monterey, California, and the one in Mexico; he 
removed the city of Vera Cruz to its present site. Don Diego Carrillo Men- 
doza, Marques de Galves, was the fourteenth Viceroy, 1621 to 1624, doing much 
to exterminate the bandits that infested the highways of Mexico. For the 
honor of this Viceroy the town of Galveston, Tex., was named. The twenty- 
second Viceroy, Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de Albur- 
querque, in 1653-60, colonized New Mexico, and founded the town of Albur- 
querque. 

The worthy Fray Payo de Rivera Enriquez was the twenty-seventh Viceroy, 
and also Archbishop of Mexico, from 1673 to 1680. During his reign, the cause- 
way and aqueduct of Guadalupe was built. Don Melchor Portocarrero Lazo 
de la Vega, Conde de la Monclova, twenty-ninth Viceroy, 1686 to 1688, built, 
at his own expense, the aqueduct of Chapultepec, colonized the State of Coa- 
huila, and founded the town of Monclova. Don Gaspar de la Cerdo Sandoval 
Silva y Mendoza, Conde de Galve, was the thirtieth Viceroy, from 1688 to 
1696, during which the domain was extended to include Texas, and under his 
direction the town of Pensacola, Fla., was founded, in 1692. 

The thirty-second Viceroy was Don Jose Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de 
Moctezuma, which title of Conde came through his wife, a lineal descendant of 
Moctezuma II. Don Juan de Acufia. Marques de Casafuerte, was the thirty- 



30 

seventh of the Hue of Viceroys. During his reign, from 1722 to 1734, the first 
newspaper, Gaceta de Mexico, was published. Don Pedro Cebrian y Agustin, 
Conde de Fuenclara, was the fortieth Viceroy, from 1742 to 1746, during which 
years the State of Tamauhpas was colonized. 

Don Joaquin de jMonserratte, Marques de Cruillas, forty-fourth Viceroy, 
established the first regular army in Mexico between 1760 and 1766, and caused 
the houses in the City of Mexico to be numbered. Don Carlos Francisco de 
Croix, Marques de Croix, was forty-fifth Vicero}^, from 1766 to 1771. He 
expelled the Jesuits from i**Iexico and extended the Alameda to its present 
dimensions. 

The forty-sixth Viceroy was Don Antonio ]\Iaria de Bucareli y Ursua, from. 
1771 to 1779. Mining and minting was greatly increased during his reign, and 




TORTURE OF CUAUTEMOC. 

nearly $130,000,000 was sent to Spain. He died in Mexico, and is buried in the 
church at Guadalupe; a bronze tablet in the floor of the great church of Guada- 
lupe marks his last resting-place. He fostered the military, but encouraged the 
commerce of the country till it reached an unprecedented activity. Besides other 
great public works he completed the aqueduct of Chapultepec at his own expense. 
Don Juan Vicente de Giicmcs Pacheco de Padilla, Conde de Revillagigedo, 
was the lifty-sccond Viceroy and the great reformer of the period 17S0-94. He 
paved and sewered the city, executed bandits, and sent out exploring expedi- 
tions, one of which penetrated Alaska. He attended the erection of public works 
in person, and was on the alert day and night, so that nothing escaped him. It 
is said that one night he tripped on an uneven piece of pavement, and had 



31 

the workmen called from their beds and told them to have it fixed before 
morning. On another occasion he found a street that was barricaded by some 
native huts. He sent for an officer and ordered the street opened, so he could 
pass through on his way to mass next morning. To this day the street is 
called Calle Revillagigedo. 

Don Miguel de la Grua Salamanca, Marques de Branciforte, was the fifty- 
third Viceroy. During his reign, 1794-98, Florida was ceded to France— that 



portion west of the Perdido 
Don Jose de Iturrigaray, 

to the native element dur- 

an d Jos eph 

island of San 

The faft^^'-sev- 

bay. He exe- 

the first martyr 
Garibay was 

bishop of Mexico, 

as fif tj'-eighth 
The Revoltttioti 

were beset in all di- 
spirit that was afire 

first conspiracy was 

and promptly 

first decisive 

taken by the 

priest, Hi- 
res, in the 

Allende, 

Aldama 





River. 

the fifty-sixth Viceroy, 1803-8, for his favors 
ingtheinterregnumbetweenFerdinandVri. 
Bonaparte, was arrested, imprisoned on the 
Juan de Ulua,and sent back to Spain. 
enth Viceroy was Don Pedro de Gari- 
cuted the Licenciado Verdad, 
of Mexicaii independence, 
succeeded by the then Arch- 
Francisco Javier de Lizana, 
Vicero}^ 

—The Viceroys from 1809 
rections by the revolutionary 
throughout the country. The 
discovered in Michoacan 
stamped out. In 1810 the 
steps of the Revolution were 
joint action of the patriot 
dalgo, in the town of Dolo- 
State of Guanajuato, and 



U J 1 1 I i 1. 1 1 1 1 4 H U U . 



^'■■:m^M-^ 



STATUE OF CHARLES IV. 



together with the officers of the Queen's regiment (then garrisoned at San Miguel), 
and greatly assisted by Doha Josef a Ortiz of Queretaro, who, under pretense of a 
literary society, was holding patriotic meetings at her house. These plans were 
discovered and the patriots compelled to act before they were quite ready. During 
the night of the 16th of September, Sunday, the comrades came to the house of 
Hidalgo, in Dolores, and told him of the discovery of the plot. The padre said they 
must act at once ; at early mass he told the people that the yoke was no longer Span- 
ish but French, and the time for its throwing off had come; his people responded 
and he set out with Allende and his companions at the head of a band of 800 men 
armed only with clubs and knives. As they passed the Santuario de Atotonilco, 



32 

Hidalgo took from the altar the banner oi Guadalupe, and it became the stand- 
ard of Independence, At San Miguel, the regiment of Allende joined the in- 
surgents, the march to Guanajuato was commenced, the people of the country 
flocked to his aid, and he came to the town with a heavy force; the Alhondiga 
de Granaditas was taken, and the city occupied by the patriots. 

The march thence w^as toward Alorelia, then called Valladolid, and thence 
towards the capital, his forces being constantly augmented, and at Las Cruces, 
almost within sight of the city, October 30, 1810, met the Royal troops and 
drove them back, but for some reason Hidalgo himself decided to retreat, and 
retired towards the interior, encountering the Royalists again November 7th, 
near Aculco, where he was defeated and driven back, but reached Guadalajara 
in safety, and organized a government there. Hidalgo met the Spaniards again 
January 16, 181 1, on the bridge of Calderon and had his little army dispersed. 

The defeated patriots made their way northward with the hope of reaching 
the United States in safety, but were betrayed into the hands of the Spaniards, 
and were captured in the little town of Acatita de Bajan, on the 21st of ^lay, 
181 1, and conveyed to Chihuahua, where they were executed, Hidalgo on the 
31st of July, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez on the 26th of June. 

The death of these leaders had only a stimulating effect on the cause of Inde- 
pendence. The entire country w^as aroused and a desultory war carried on in 
every district for more than four years, until the execution of Morelos at the 
orders of the Inquisition, December 22, 1815, at Valladolid, now called Morelia, 
in honor of the patriot. As fast as they were captured the patriots were shot, 
but others came to take their places, and in some cases came over from the 
Royalist forces, as in the case of Yturbide, who captured and shot ^latamoras 
at Valladolid, February 3, 1814, and seven days later himself promulgated the 
cause of Independence; the famous Plan of Iguala, which was the establish- 
ment of the Roman Catholic church to the exclusion of all others; the absolute 
Independence of Mexico as a moderate monarchy, with a Spanish prince on 
the throne; the union and equality of Alexicans and Spaniards. These three 
clauses were called "the three guarantees," represented in the national colors: 
green, union of the Mexicans and Spaniards; white, religious purity; red. inde- 
pendence. 

Yturbide's army, known as the "Army of the Three Guarantees," finally 
accomplished the Independence of Mexico. 

The cities of Valladolid. Queretaro and Puebla were captured, the latter on 
August 2, 1821, and at once commenced the siege of the capital. The last 
Viceroy, Juan O'Donoju, had just arrived at Vera Cruz. He found that he 
could not reach the City of Mexico and set about arranging a personal inter- 
view with Yturbide, which occurred at Cordoba, on August 23, 1821, and an 
agreement, known as the Treaty of Cordoba, was drawn on the lines of the 
Plan of Iguala, with amendment that O'Donoju should be one of the regents 
to govern Mexico until a king could be selected. This arrangement practi- 
cally ended Spanish rule in INIexico. Yturbide returned to his army, and on 
September 21, 1821, entered the City of Mexico in triumph. The territory 
within the boundaries of Mexico at that time included Guatemala, all of the 
present Republic of Mexico, and that part of the United States from the Red 
and Arkansas Rivers to the Pacific Coast, extending north to the British pos- 
sessions, — one of the greatest empires of the earth. 

Agustin de Yturbide was born in Valladolid, now Morelia. September 27, 
T783, joined the army at the early age of fifteen, and by his merit as a 
soldier was rapidly advanced. He was never in favor of the Republic, though 
he desired the Independence of Mexico, and probably hoped for his own 
enthronement, which was accomplished for a brief season. 



33 

On the 24th of February, 1822, the first Congress of Mexico assembled in 
the capital. Their election had been provided for by a committee of regency 
based on the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Cordoba. Almost immediately 
there were two important factions among the people. They resolved them- 




, MONUMENT TO HIDALGO, CHIHUAHUA. 

lu^^i T? ^^° political parties, one composed of the army and the church, 
tnat had for its object the placing of Yturbide upon the throne. The other 
party, composed mostly of prominent people, had an idea of an Empire under 
a prince of Spam. The Spanish Cortez had, in the meantime, February 13, 
l»22, annulled the Treaty of Cordoba. This gave encouragement to the army 



34 

and clergy party, and Congress was forced to make selection of an Emperor. 
On May 19, 1822, Yturbide was elected by a vote of 67 to 15, and on the 21st 
of July of that year Yturbide and his wife were crowned in the Cathedral as 
Emperor and Empress of Mexico. The Emperor was titled Agustin I. The 
Empire was short-lived. Congress, which had been friendly to Yturbide, .was 
dissolved by him and a sort of parliament organized, called a "Junta." 

Before the end of the year the Empire came to an end by the proclamation 
of a Republic on December 6, 1822, at Vera Cruz, b}^ General Antonio Lopez 
de Santa Ana, and early in January the entire country had gathered under the 
banner of the Republic, leaving only the City of Mexico as the Empire. Ytur- 
bide called Congress together, tendered his resignation, which was not accepted, 
as the election had not been regarded as legal, and his actions as Emperor 
were also illegal. He was banished from the country, but granted a pension 
of $25,000 for his previous services to the country. 

He went to England, and from London wrote to the Government warning 
them of the machinations of the clergy for the restoration of the Spanish 
rule in Mexico, and offering his services in defense against them. Congress 
did not accept the information or his services, and at once a decree was issued 
pronouncing Yturbide a traitor and placing the penalty of death, should he 
return to Mexico. Yturbide was ignorant of the issuance of this decree and 
returned to JNIexico, landing at Soto la Marina, a little town on the Gulf 
coast, in the State of Tamaulipas, north of Tampico. He was arrested at once 
and taken before the legislature of Tamaulipas, then in session, condemned 
to death, and shot July 19, 1824. 

The second Congress, really the first of the Republic, assembled in the 
capital on the 7th of November, 1823, adopting a Constitution very similar 
to that of the United States, giving to the several states of ]\Iexico similar 
rights to those of the United States. It created a National Congress, to be 
composed of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies, placing the executive power 
in the hands of a President, and the judicial in the Supreme and Circuit Courts. 
This Constitution was proclaimed on the 4th of October, 1824, and on the 
loth of that month the first President of Mexico, General Guadalupe Victoria, 
took the oath of office. Congress was dissolved on the 24th of December, 1824, 
and the first Constitutional Congress convened January i, 1825. In that year 
Fort Juan de Ulua, the only place held by the Spanish, was evacuated and the 
Republic of j\Iexico was recognized by the United States and England. 

From 1828 to 1846 there was a series of revolutions, growing out of the 
disregard of the election between the Centralists and the Federalists. The sec- 
ond election for President occurred in 1828, when General Gomez Pedraza 
was elected. General Santa Ana dissenting and starting a revolution, which 
placed General Vicente Guerrero in office. 

Congress passed an act on the 20th of March, 1829' banishing all Spaniards 
from j\lexico. which, of course, brought retaliation from Spain. A force was 
organized in Cuba, which landed at Tampico in July, 1829. This invasion was 
met by the opposition of all the people in Mexico. Santa Ana organized a force 
at Vera Cruz and proceeded to Tampico, which was reenforccd by General 
Mier y Teran. A battle occurred on the 9th of September, which, on the nth, 
was followed by the surrender of the Spanish invaders. This was the last act 
of the Spaniards to regain possession of Alexico, and was followed by the recog- 
nition of the Republic by Spain, December 28, 1836. 

The Liberal Congress, in March, 1833, commenced the enaction of laws 
against the clergy, tending to the abolishment of monasteries and convents, 
and to forbid the priests teaching in State or National schools. This law was, 
however, withdrawn by Santa Ana in 1834. 



36 

While these stormy scenes were being enacted in Mexico, that part of the 
great Empire known as Texas had been settled, to some degree, by Americans, 
who, in 1835, under the leadership of Sam Houston, declared their Independ- 
ence. 

General Santa Ana was in command of the army sent to quell the revo- 
lution, and was met by the Texans in several bloody battles, among which was 
the massacre of the Alamo on the 6th of March, 1836, and at Goliad on the 
27th, in which nearly 600 Texans were slain. 

General Santa Ana was defeated at the battle of San Jacinto, near Galves- 
ton, and the next morning, April 22nd, was made prisoner. This battle and 
the capture of the President and Chief General of Mexico practically ended 
the war and made Texas an independent State. 

Texas existed as a separate Republic until 1844, being recognized by the 
United States and the European powers. On the 12th of April, 1844, a treaty 
was concluded between President Tyler and the Texans, by which Texas was 




HOUSE OF CORTEZ AT COYOACAN. 

admitted as one of the United States. This treaty was ratified by Congress in 
March, 1845, which action, of course, did not meet with the approval of the 
Mexicans. As Texas was an independent power and had been recognized as 
such by the Mexican Government, their right to be annexed by the United 
States was not questioned by any other power. 

This was the beginning of the Mexican War, and the first battle was fought 
April 24, 1846, in which sixteen Americans were killed and wounded, and the 
remaining force captured. In the next battles, which were Palo Alto, on May 
8th, and Resaca de la Palma on the next day (both of these places in Texas), 
the Mexicans were defeated. 

General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande at its mouth, on May the i8th, 
and occupied the Mexican town of Matamoros. The Americans had provided 
for the prosecution of the war by an appropriation of $10,000,000 and 50,000 



36 

volunteers were called for. Before the war commenced an envoy of the United 
States, Mr. Slidell, had been refused an audience by General Paredes, who 
had obtained the place of the Presidential office of Mexico, so that all efforts 
looking to a peaceful settlement were abandoned. General Taylor advanced 
from the Rio Grande, captured Monterey September 20, 1846, and on the 
23d of February, 1847, fought another battle at Buena Vista, about five miles 
south of Saltillo. 

Generals Doniphan and Price marched through New Mexico, where they 
had engagements with Indians, then proceeded in the direction of Chihuahua, 
which they occupied on the 28th of February, 1847, after the battle of Sacra- 
mento. General, then Captain Fremont, acting under orders from the Gov- 
ernment at Washington, started a revolution against Mexico in California, and 
on the 7th of July, 1846, Commodore Sloat occupied the town of Monterey, Cal., 
and the next day Commander Montgomery occupied San Francisco. On the 
17th of August, Commodore Stockton issued a proclamation taking possession 
of California, complete occupation of the State being made by Stockton and 
Kearney. 

The expedition against the Mexican capital was under General Winfield 
Scott, who landed at Vera Cruz March 9, 1847, and captured the city after five 
days' bombardment, on the 27th of March. On his march toward the capital 
he met General Santa Ana at Cerro Gordo, and defeated him on the i8th 
of April. Without further opposition General Scott reached Puebla, and 
entered the Valley of Mexico on the 9th of August, defeated the Mexicans at 
Padierna, August 20th, and marched to the field of Churubusco on the same 
day. 

On the 8th of September occurred the battles, Molino del Rey and Casa 
Mata, and, on the 12th and •13th stormed the castle of Chapultepec, so gal- 
lantly defended by the cadets of the military academy, and took possession of 
Belem and San Cosme, entering the City of Mexico on the 15th of Septem- 
ber, 1847. A treaty of peace called the "Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo," was 
concluded on the 2d of February, 1848, by which Mexico ceded to the United 
States all the territory north and east of the Rio Grande, for which the United 
States Government agreed to pay to Mexico the sum of $15,000,000, thus con- 
cluding a war, whose settlement, on its face, would seem to be the most liberal 
in the history of wars, but concluding a war that General Grant pronounced 
the most unholy and unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker 
one. 

In 185 1 Mariano Arista was elected President. In less than two years, in 
the midst of a revolution, he resigned the place. The following two years, 
from 1853 to 1855, General Santa Ana was Dictator. On December the 12th. 
1855, Comonfort was elected President, commencing his administration with 
the enforcement of the laws against the Church. 

In 1856 he ordered the sale of all landed estates owned by the Church, 
the Church to receive the money, and the ownership of the lands passing to 
private individuals. In the same year, September i6th, he announced the sup- 
pression of the Monks, which was instigated by a conspiracy of the San Fran- 
ciscans. During his administration a new Constitution was framed and 
adopted, February 5, 1857. Comonfort remaining as President until the elec- 
tion under the new Constitution, when he was elected to succeed himself. He 
entered upon his second term, December i, 1857, and one of his first acts was 
to overthrow the Constitution that he had sworn to support. He dissolved 
Congress in December and imprisoned Benito Juarez, who had been elected 
his successor. All of his plans failed, he left the country in 1858, and did nol 
return until the French Intervention, when he joined the Mexicans against 



37 

Maximilian. After the departure of Comonfort, Juarez became the Consti- 
tutional President, but was compelled to abandon the capital, and at once 
set out for Guadalajara, where his Government was organized. He proceeded 
to the Pacific Coast, thence to the United States, returning to Vera Cruz, from 
which point he administered the Government. During this time another Gov- 
ernment was in existence in the City of Mexico, under Felix Zuloaga, whose 
administration commenced a vigorous prosecution of the War of the Reform, 
which extended over the entire country. In this Juarez took prominent part 
by his proclamation of the Laws of the Reform at a time when there seemed 
the least possible chance of success. This was the bitterest war in the history 
of Mexico. Juarez' proclamation was dated July 12, 1859, and had the efifect of 




MINT AT CHIHUAHUA, HIDALGO'S PRISON. 

a settlement of the causes of the dissensions of fifty years. Juarez entered 
the City of Mexico, January 11, 1861, and commenced operation of the Laws 
of the Reform from the capital. 

In 1861, July the 17th, the Mexican Congress passed a law suspending pay- 
ment on the bonds and interest of the Republic held by foreigners. This law 
gave the European powers an excuse for the intervention. The first inter- 
vention in Mexican affairs, however, was during the administration of General 
Bustamente, when a claim of $600,000 was made by France for damages suffered 
by French subjects during the various wars. 

One of the items of this claim was made by a French cook for $60,000 worth 
of pies, alleged to have been stolen from him by the soldiers. This claim of 
the French was derisively called "La Reclamacion de los Pasteles," the claim 
of the pies. A French fleet arrived off Vera Cruz October 27, 1839, and cap- 
tured the city on the 5th of December, on which day the French were attacked 



38 

and driven back to their ships by General Santa Ana, who in this battle lost 
his leg. A treaty was concluded in March, 1839, when the full claim of $600,000 
was paid. 

The intervention of 1861 was then the second, and the outcome of an 
agreement called the Treaty of London, entered into October 31, 1861, between 
France, England and Spain, binding these nations to occupy the coast of 
Mexico, with the idea to put the Mexicans in a position to establish a govern- 
ment of their own. 

The fleet of the allies arrived at Vera Cruz in December, 1861, and Jan- 
uary, 1862, bringing commissioners — General Prim, of Spain; M. de Saligny, 
of France, and Admiral Wyke, of England — who were authorized to treat with 
the representatives of the Mexican Government. These commissioners issued 
a proclamation declaring that their presence in Mexico was for the purpose 
and question of finance only. A conference between the Government and the 
commissioners, called the Treaty of La Soledad, signed February 19, 1862, 
allowed the Spanish troops to advance as far as Orizaba, and the French troops 
to Tehuacan. The English made no advance of troops into the interior; in 
fact, only 1,000 marines had accompanied the English fleet as a guard of honor. 
It was stipulated that the troops should be withdrawn as soon as the treaty 
should be confirmed by the English and French commissioners. The Spanish 
forces were withdrawn, and the English and Spanish ships left Vera Cruz. 
The French troops remained, and were reenforced in March to the number of 
40,000 men under JMarshal Forey, who arrived in Mexico in January, 1863. 
Their advance towards the capital was repulsed at Puebla on the 5th of May, 
1862, by General Zaragoza's troops. Puebla was captured on the 17th of May 
of that year. 

Juarez abandoned the capital and the French soldiers entered the City of 
Mexico June 9, 1863. On the loth of July, 1863, an "Assembly of Notables" 
was called together in the City of Mexico, and a declaration made by that 
body to the effect that Mexico should be governed by a hereditary Alonarch}'-, 
under a Catholic prince, and that the throne should be offered to Maximilian, 
Archduke of Austria, also a representative of the ruling house of Spain, and 
brought Mexico, in 1863, practically to the position she occupied in 1821. 
Maximilian accepted the throne on two conditions: first, that he should be 
elected by a popular vote in Mexico; second, that the Emperor Napoleon should 
give him military aid as long as it should be necessary. 

Maximilian arrived in the City of ]\Iexico, June 12, 1864, with his wife. 
Carlotta, daughter of Leopold I., King of the Belgians. They were crowned 
Emperor and Empress in the Cathedral in the City of Mexico. 

Maximilian continued to enforce the Laws of the Reform, and thus increased 
the opposition of the Clerical party. As President Juarez had, or was believed 
to have, abandoned the country, Maximilian issued a decree declaring the war 
at an end and all persons in arms against the Government to be bandits, and 
when captured should be shot. The decree aroused bitterness of opposition 
throughout the country, following the execution of Generals Arteago, Salazar. 
Villagomez and Felix Diaz. The opposition to Maximilian was not confined 
to Mexico. The United States Government was opposed to the reestablishmcnt 
of a monarchy on the western continent. Secretary Seward informed the 
French in a diplomatic way that, as soon as he could be relieved of some little 
difficulties that he had on his hands in his own country at that time, he would 
look upon the occupation of Mexico by the French army as a grave reflection 
on the United States, and that the United States could not tolerate the estab- 
lishment of an Empire in Mexico based on military support of a foreign 
country. 



39 

Napoleon, on reception of this note, abandoned Maximilian, and ordered 
the evacuation by the French in November, 1866. Maximilian had not secured 
the support of either of the parties of Mexico. He had burdened the counti'y 
with an excessive debt, due possibly to evil councilors, one of whom was Mar- 
shal Bazaine. The collapse of the Empire was immediate. The appeal of 
Carlotta to the French Emperor and to the Pope was unavailing. The last 
of the troops left Mexico in February, 1867. Maximilian decided first to leave 
the country, but reconsidered his decision and concluded to remain. 

President Juarez had left Paso del Norte and was advancing southward; 
during all of this time he had maintained his authority as President of the 
Republic. 




THE GARDEN-CHAPULTEPEC. 

General Miramon was sent out to capture Juarez and was defeated at San 
Jacinto on the ist of February, 1867, and fell back to Queretaro, where he was 
joined by Maximilian. While these movements were being prosecuted in the 
North, General Porfirio Diaz captured Puebla on April 2, after a siege of 
twenty-five days, and defeated Marquez at San Lorenzo on April 11, and at 
once commenced siege of the City of Mexico. General Escobedo commenced 
a siege of Queretaro in March and continued it until its capture on the 15th 
of May. Maximilian was captured on the stony hill called Cerro de Las Cam- 
panas, and on the spot where he was captured he was executed, together with 



40 



his Generals, Miramon and Mexia, at seven o'clock on the morning of June 
19, 1867. A request from the United States Government that the life of Maxi- 
milian be spared was not heeded. Nineteen Generals of Maximilian's army 
were also condemned to be shot, but were pardoned by President Juarez. 

The City of Mexico surrendered to General Diaz June 21, and President 
Juarez entered the capital on July 25, 1867. The Constitution of 1857 was 
placed in effect throughout Mexico, a new Congress was convened, and 
Juarez reelected President October 12, 1871. During this administration the 
various railway and telegraph lines were projected. They were only slight 
disturbances that occurred in Mexico after the fall of the Empire. In a sub- 
sequent election the opposing candidates were Juarez, Lerdo de Tejada and 
Porfirio Diaz. Juarez was elected December i, 1871, and took his seat for 
the third time, the result of which was a slight revolution, occurring in vari- 
ous parts of the country. These were headed by Porfirio Diaz on his Ha- 
cienda of La Noria, in 
Oaxaca. A manifesto was 
issued proposing a conven- 
tion and assembly of Nota- 
bles, to reorganize a gov- 
ernment with Diaz as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army, 
until the establishment of 
such government. The 
movement was interrupted 
by the death of Juarez and 
the succession of the Presi- 
dent of the Supreme Court, 
Lerdo de Tejada. The ad- 
ministration of Lerdo was 
peaceful, and he was elected 
President December i, 1872, 
continuing in offtce for 
three years, during which 
time the railroad between 
Vera Cruz and the City of 
Mexico, called the Mexican 
Railway, was opened on 
MAXIMILIAN'S COACH OF STATE. January I, 1873. 

Another Revolution occurred in Oaxaca, January 15. 1876, and once more 
the country was in the midst of a strife. Lerdo was forced to leave the coun- 
try, and Genera] Diaz entered the City of Mexico November 24, 1876. and was 
proclaimed President; on the 6th of May, 1877. he was declared Constitutional 
President, in which of^ce he remained until November 30, 1880, during which 
time he put down small revolutions and executed nine Revolutionists on June 
24. 1879. 

On the 25th of September, 1880, Congress elected General Manuel Gon- 
zales President. During the administration of General Gonzales the celebrated 
Nickel riots of 1883 occurred, the common people refusing to accept nickel 
coin in the place of silver and copper, entailing on them considerable loss. The 
national debt of Mexico was also greatly increased, and his administration was 
practically a financial failure. 

General Diaz was again elected President and took the oath of office De- 
cember I, 1884, and at each recurring election to 1906 succeeded himself. On 
taking the office in 1884 he found an absolutely empty treasury and a country 




41 

without credit. It was a condition and not a theory that confronted Diaz — 
a condition that theories alone could not ameliorate. Urgent and immediate 
action was the only remedy for the deplorable state of the country. General 
Diaz was the man of action, man of the hour, and delayed not till the morrow. 
To perceive a need, with him, was to act at once, and to promote the pros- 
perity and peace of his country was his only aim. The railroads and the 
telegraphs had only been proposed; the commerce of the country was in a 
state of lethargy. Diaz' quick, restless, active disposition called it to life, and 
his liberal, wise and efficient administration of the Government made it pos- 
sible to complete the enterprises of communication and commerce, and it so 
promoted the internal improvements in every direction that his own acts have 
placed President Diaz among the foremost statesmen of the world. 

A patriotic Mexican writer says: "With the restless, inconstant character of 
our race, the long tenure of office by one man is one of the greatest dangers 
of the peace of the nation. Yet, notwithstanding, General Diaz has succeeded 
in avoiding shipwreck on this shoal, making himself all but indispensable to 
the completion of the reconstructive and conciliatory work of which he is the 
true and only author. The work of pacification accomplished by General 
Diaz has consisted in the strengthening of the central power, and the discreet 
use of his personal prestige and influence for the purpose of securing in all 
the states of the Mexican Union the election of governors attached to him 
personally, and resolved to second him at any cost in the task of assuring to 
the country the supreme benefit of peace, as the most imperious necessity of 
the Mexican people. The patriotic conviction of the urgency, for a nation 
bleeding and weakened as ours has been, of a convalescent political regime 
to enable us to recuperate our shattered strength, has facilitated the insensible 
and voluntary creation of a system of governmental discipline wherein the 
federated units, like the wheels of an immense machine, receive without shock 
the impulse of force which is conveyed to them from the great central motor." 




ENTRANCE OF CORTEZ INTO TENOCHTITLAN, 




IN THE HALLS OF HFR ANCESTORS. 




Practical Matters, 




Travel in Mexico is attended by all the comforts and very many 
of the luxuries that are found on the railway and steamer lines of the 
United States, where the science of travel has well nigh been 
perfected. Passenger trains are composed of coaches of 
American manufacture and are for passengers of the first, sec- 
ond and third classes, with all the accommodations found in 
modern cars. Pullman sleeping cars are attached to the 
through express trains of the trunk lines between the United 
States and Mexico, and on side lines and branch roads of im- 
portance. 

The dining-car and bufifet service is yet in its infancy, but 
the wayside restaurant is as a rule good and up to the average. 
^ Railway Tickets are regulated by a code of rules, 

^ similar to those in effect in the United States. They 
are first, second and third class, at prices in accordance with accommodations 
furnished. Through unlimited tickets, good till used and to stop over, on noti- 
fication to the conductor, anywhere and for any length of time; limited and 
excursion tickets are good to stop over within their limit; local or continuous 
passage tickets must be used through to destination. 

Baggage and Cttstoms Regulations. On arrival at the border cities, 
travelers should have their baggage ready for examination by the Mexican 
officials, and on the return by the Americans. The duty is quickly and cour- 
teously performed, without trouble or annoyance to the well-intending trav- 
eler. Hand baggage should be taken to the baggage-room of the station, where 
the trunks are also taken by baggage men to be opened by the owners, or 
left in the sleeping-cars, according to local regulations. No fees are required 
or expected, and it is bad taste to ofifer them. Nothing except wearing ap- 
parel, watches and jewels worn on the person, fire-arms, tools of trade, a 
camera in use, a broken package of cigars or cigarettes, and such other articles, 
are on the free list. * On the return the American officers are equally polite 
and courteous, and their examination a mere form, but under the law nothing 
is free except wearing apparel, hoop-poles, skeletons, sauer kraut, bologna 

13 



44 



and joss sticks, zerapes, etc. The 99 cigar fallacy is long ago exploded, idols, 
antiquities, and presents for friends at home, are all dutiable, though they are 
passed free in small quantities for personal use, to a total value of $100. 

The baggage regulations on the railways are the same as in the United 
States to holders of tickets purchased in this country — 150 pounds free on each 
full ticket and 75 pounds on half tickets. On first class tickets within 
the Republic 50 kilograms, or no pounds, is the limit of baggage carried free. 
On those leading to the United States or other foreign countries the full 150 
pounds is allowed. Agents of transfer companies board incoming trains as 
they approach the larger cities and check baggage to hotels or residences, call 
for baggage to be checked to all points in the Republic and the border cities. 
Cargadores (public porters, with numbered badges indicating a license) may be 
trusted with baggage to and from trains. Give the man a written address 
and take his number. 

Money — The money of Mexico is the same as that of the United States — 
i. e., dollars and cents — called in Spanish pesos y centavos; that is the legal 

way of counting it, as enacted by a 
law taking effect in 1890, but the 
people still use the old system to 
some extent, though they under- 
stand both. A 
tlaco is a cent and a 
half, a cuartilla is 
three cents; these 
are of copper and 
now almost out of 
circulation. The old 
silver coins were 
the medio, 6^ 
cents; real, i2y2 
cents, also called in; 
the quarter and half 
dollars are rarely so 
called, they are dos 
vm^jm^ f^f^ ^ " ■-^vJHit||yL|'- '" ' '^ ,,,1 -•^" reales (pronounced 

^^apBr"'""'' «v^-~*~' . l^^^BS^"'^^''''''''^'^^ ^o re-al-es), and 

"^^wrpis _ . i!4„„ 1 '^/^.liivi^^BBfe cuatro rcalcs; and 

seventy-five cents is 
seis reales. Regard- 
less of the law to 
the contrary, prices 
are quoted in reales, 
up to one dollar, 
then in most cases 
it is pesos y reales ^ 

thus: a dollar and a half is ttn peso y cuatro reales; one dollar and four reales. 
The fifty-cent piece is sometimes called a toston, and 25 cents a peseta, 

though rarely. The IMexicans make change to a nicety and are credited with 

splitting tlacos, literally, and with a hatchet. 

Gold is little used — but under the recent laws the $5, $10 and $20 coins are 

coming into circulation. The legal value of the Mexican peso is 50 cents gold. 
The paper money in circuation is in notes of the National Bank of Alexico, 

the Stale banks and the Bank of London, Mexico and South America all 






45 

passing at par, except in rare cases some of the State banks beyond the limits 
of the State where issued, then only at a slight discount. 

Silver is to be depended upon at all times, but it is too bulky and heavy to 
carry in large amounts. The native possessed of a sufficiency carries it in a 
hand bag attached to a strap over the shoulder. 

It is not necessary to buy Mexican money before reaching the border; in 
fact, it is better not to do so, as better rates of exchange can be obtained 
there and in Mexico. The ticket agents at Juarez City, opposite El Paso; City 
of Porfirio Diaz, opposite Eagle Pass, and New Laredo, opposite Laredo, can 
always furnish sufficient funds to reach the interior, where American paper is 
par or premium, as also Wells-Fargo or American Express cheques. 

The gold and silver is not so acceptable; New York exchange commands 
par or premium. 

Measures and Distances — A vara is 2>2>y2 inches and corresponds to the 
yard in the dry goods stores. A metre is a yard and a tenth, and a pie is about ii 
inches, corresponding to the foot, and is so translated into English; 2^ pidgada 
is about an inch. The law recently enacted requires the use of the metric 
system in selling goods, hence the vara is a thing of the past and the metre 
is the measure of Mexico. A kilometer is about five-eighths of a mile, and a 
legua, in English a league, is about 2.6 miles, the mile {milla) not being used 
except on rare occasions; all rneasures and weights must have the govern- 
mental stamp to show that they are correct. 

Climate — Because it is in the far south, because it lies almost wholly 
within the tropics and near the equator, Mexico is supposed to be a warm 
country; the contrary is the case. The climate is the most equable in the 
world; the only difference between summer and winter is, that in the summer 
it rains almost every day, while in winter there is scarcely a shower during 
the whole season. 

It is the extremely high altitudes of nearly all the cities and towns of 
Mexico, except those near the coast, that give them the delightful and health- 
ful climate they possess. The rays of a tropic sun are tempered by cooling 
breezes blowing over snow-clad mountains. The time for a tour of Mexico 
may be at the tourist's convenience. Traveling is pleasant at all seasons. The 
only places to be avoided in summer are those in the tierra caliente, Vera 
Cruz, Tampico and other cities very near the sea coast, and except at these 
places it is healthful at all times. Really, Mexico is seen at its best in the 
"rainy season" — that is, between May and October — when the fields are green 
and the whole country is ablossom from the summer rains. There are no 
long rainy spells lasting two or three days; there is a shower every after- 
noon or evening; this may be depended upon, and outings arranged for the 
morning or forenoon. This program should be followed in the winter as 
well, for if there are any winds to blow the dust and sand of the plains or the 
waves of the lakes, they will come in the afternoon. 

Clotliilig — The proper clothing is that used in the United States for spring 
and autumn wear; light overcoats and wraps are needed only after nightfall 
or at points of extremely high altitudes. For travel in lower levels of the tierra 
caliente summer clothing will be needed and ladies will rejoice in the posses- 
sion of a "shirt-waist." 

Cabs and Carriages — If we could strike an average between the coach of 
state of the Emperor Maximilian, as shown in the National Museum, and 
the "red-flag" cab of the streets, the City of Mexico would have the finest 
cabs in the world; as it is, she has more different kinds than any other city. 
They are good, bad and indifferent, carrying little tin flags, about two by four 
inches, when not engaged. These flags indicate the class and rates of fare. 



46 

The blue-flag rates are $1 per hour for one or more passengers. The red flag 
indicates 75 cents per hour and 37 cents per half hour, 25 cents may be added 
as a fee to the driver. After 10 p. m. the red flag charge is $1.50 per hour, the 
blue $2, and on Sundays and Feast days, these rates are increased, the red 
charge is $1, and the blue $1.50 per hour. Double rates, are charged on Carnival 
Tuesday, Combat of the Flowers, Covadonga Feast and All Souls' Day. 

At all times half hour is half rate; three quarters are counted as one hour; 
if for longer than an hour, say por hora and get in. Compare your time with 
the driver and pay him promptly at the end of the ride. The hackman of 
Mexico differs not from his brethren in all the other parts of the world. 

Street Cars — The street car, of Mexico, in the smaller towns, is a mule car, 
the mule figuring as the almost universal motive power, standing still at times, 
looking without life, but when the word is given he goes with a rush, galloping 
to the other end of the line with all his might, as if in a hurry to get where 
he can stand still again. The driver simply holds the reins and lets the mule 
go, his, the man's, duty being principally to wind the brake, blow a tin horn at 




FUNERAL CAR. 

Street intersections, and to frighten, though he always fails, the droves of don- 
l^eys— this is not the fault of the horn, which is not unlike the campaign horn, 
or the Christmas horn of the American small boy, as highly hideous in its hoot- 
ings — but without effect on the burros, which regard them not, but the street 
cars have the right of way and hurry on through the droves, often jostling the 
heavy loads of the passing burro. There are first and second-class cars going in 
pairs within a block of each other, the best car first. The fares are from 'iw^^ 
to twenty-five cents, according to the distance traveled. The second-class fares 
are cheaper. Special cars may be hired, these bear the legend "Especial" over 
the lamp, and the public do not attempt to use them. There are also freight 
cars, box cars and fiat cars, and cars for sheep and goats. And there is in 
Mexico, as nowhere else, a funeral car, with a catafalque, all with funeral drap- 
eries. These cars, with a number of "Especiales," with closely drawn curtains, 
make up a funeral train. The name tramway is in use, and is translated to 
Spanish as tran-via. The system in the City of Mexico is a fine one, nearly all 
the lines starting from the Plaza Mayor and returning there. Electricity is 



47 

the motive power in the Capital and the larger cities. The cars are as fine 
as are to be found anywhere. There are some splendid open cars for suburban 
excursions. 

Hotels and Restaurants— More has been said against the hotels and 
restaurants of Mexico than they ever deserved. The only trouble the American 
has in the Mexican hotel results from his own misfortune, not to say his 
fault, in not being able to speak the language to make his wants known, but 
no man who can say hamone e waivos or hif tek e cafe need go hungry 
in Mexico. All comers will find clean beds; they may be somewhat hard some- 
times, and not as wide as the home bed, but scrupulously clean, as the rooms 
are also. 

On arrival the guest is shown to a room; if accepted then, he rray register, 
and his name is written on a blackboard, with his room number. It is need 




HOTEL ITURBIDE— CITY OF MEXICO. 

less to use up a hotel register if a room doesn't suit, and what is the use of 
having a clerk to tell w^hei:e the guests' rooms are, when the caller may look 
on the blackboard and see for himself? Once assigned to a room, the guest 
is left severely alone, the manager's sole duty, after the assignment, being to 
keep books and collect the bills; and yet everything moves smoothly, and all 
wants are supplied when made known. A Mexican of mature age presides 
over the key-rack, and when you have called for the key once, you won't have 
to again; the master of the keys recognizes you as you approach, has your key 
ready, with any cards or letters left for you, and with a cheery buenas noches, 
Sefior, bids you good-night. The hall-boy — and there is one on every floor — 
is a sort of Pooh-bah in his way. He is bootblack and porter, messenger and 
chambermaid, and agent for remote and unknown laundries; he removes 
soiled linen, and en manana has them back again, clean and snowy white, with 



48 

no one on earth except himself knowing where in Mexico he takes them or 
whence he brings them. More than this, the hall boy runs a sort of free 
school for the dissemination of the Spanish language to the ignorant guests; 
this he does con mucho gusto, and is pleased to tel) you the name of any- 
thing, if he can catch on to your pronunciation of the question, como se 
llama eso? Almost all hotels are on the European plan. Rooms may be 
obtained at from one to twenty dollars per day, according to size and loca- 
tion; if two or more persons occupy the same room, a reduction is made. 
It is well to know the price of the room before engaging it, then there can 
be no discussion at departure. Rooms may be engaged by mail or wire 
(the message may be sent in English), and they will be kept and charged for 
from the time indicated in the letter or telegram. Lights, candles and lamps 
are provided for rooms, but guests are expected to furnish their own matches 
and soap. In nearly all the best hotels there are good baths. The baths of 
Mexico are to be commended, and are appreciated as a comfort and a luxury 
not expected. Electric lights and call bells are in the best hotels. 

In many of the better restaurants there are English-speaking head-waiters, 
and bills of fare printed in English. There are regular meals at fixed prices, 
irom 25 cents for bread and coffee. ziV^ cents for eggs and coffee, to 50, 
62K, 75 cents and $1.00 for dinner or supper. Where meals are served a la 
carte the prices are affixed to each article. Arrangements may be made for 
board by the day or week, at rates for two or three meals per day, as desired. 
It is best for persons not speaking the language to take regular meals, table 
d'hote, and the meal can be served without trouble and served well. What- 
ever may be said of the restaurants in Mexico, it should be added that the 
good ones are managed by natives, and the bad ones by foreigners, as a general 
thing, and, with few exceptions, the restaurant advertised as English or Amer- 
ican is generally to be avoided. 

The hours for meals are somewhat different in jNIexico from what they are 
in other countries, but the "meals-at-all-hours" rule applies to all the first- 
class places. In the early morning the custom of Mexico — and it is a good 
one — is to take coffee and bread, and, if you please, fruits; the best kind 
of fruits are to be had everywhere. About noon is the breakfast hour; the 
meal commences with soup and follows a menu very much like an American 
noon-day dinner, ending with dessert, and coffee, of course. The other full 
meal of the day takes place at from five to eight o'clock in the evening, and 
is called dinner or supper, as the fancy dictates, and resembles the earlier bill 
of fare of the noon-day in every particular, commencing with soup and ending 
with coffee. 

The chili con came, chile with meat, of ]\Iexico, when nicely prepared, is 
as palatable as it is hot. The meats are fresh, with only the fault of being 
generally overdone; the poultry is fine; fresh vegetables are to be had every 
day in the year, as well as the fruits of every clime — apples and peaches from 
the temperate zone, and pineapples and oranges from the hot country. The 
bread is always good, the coffee stronger than in other countries; little butter 
is used, and is made and served fresh without salt. 

The drinks peculiar to Mexico are many and varied. Pulque is the national 
beverage, drank in public places by the poorer people, but in almost every 
family of all the classes. Pulque is the juice of the maguey, taken from the 
heart of the plant, and after the fermentation of twenty-four hours is ready 
for use; pulque more than a day old is useless. Tequila and mescal are a 
distillation from the different varieties of the maguey, the heai-t of the plant 
being roasted and then put through the process of distillation. A small quan- 
tity of tequila is a drink, taken with a grain of salt; literally the salt is placed 



49 



on the tongue before drinking. The wines are for the most part good, the 
sherry and claret particularly so. The champagnes are all imported, as are 
also brandies and whiskies, which are used in moderation. Beer and ale are 
manufactured in Mexico, though large quantities are imported, and the taste 
for the Teutonic beverage is growing. 

Stores and Shopping — Every store and shop in Mexico has a name, and 
that name is painted over the door; sign reading is as interesting to the new- 
comer in Mexico as to the country cousin on his first visit to city relatives. 
The name of the store is not always appropriate, but sometimes it is, as in 
the case of the drug store called in Spanish the "gate of heaven." This can 
be questioned only in the last word; a drug store may not be the gate to 
heaven. One saloon is known as the "Port of New York." though there is 
nothing in it which resembles New York in any way. Another is more appro- 
priately named; it is called "El triunfo del diablo," the triumph of the devil. 
The stores are named for cities and countries and have fanciful titles. Other 
signs, ending in"r/a," indicate the wares for sale: Zapateria, shoes; relojeria, 
watches; joyeria, jewelry; sastreria, tailor; bonneteria, millinery; panaderia^ 
bakery, and plataria, silverware. The goods are usually in a line of shelves 
running parallel with the street and very near the doors, so they can be seen 
by the passers-by. The clerks stand in a line behind the counter like a hie of 
soldiers. Smoking is permitted everywhere, and the clerk on duty enjoys 
his cigarette at pleasure. 

The prices quoted are nearly always higher than it is expected to obtain, 
as it is presumed that all customers will want to "jew" the figure down, and 
the sharp driver at a bargain usually succeeds. The moral of which is, never 
give the first price quoted. This rule applies to the street vender, in the 
flower market, the markets, and the shops as well, but the larger and finer 
stores do not practice this generally. 

There are many very fine stores in the City of Mexico and the larger 
cities that will compare favorably with those of the cities in other countries, 
and there are many novel features to make a visit interesting, whether you buy 
or not. The shopper will find the round of the shops even more fascinating 
than among the bargain counters of New York or Chicago. There are novel- 
ties to look over that are not anywhere else. Of course there are silks and 
satins and all that, and there are rebosos of cotton, linen and silk, and tapalos 
and mantillas and zerapes that are not to be found in New York or Chicago, 
and opals and bargains in antiquities not found anywhere in the 
world, to make shopping in Mexico interesting. 

Cigars and Tobacco — He never chews, but the Mexican smokes at all 
times and under all circumstances. Before breakfast and after breakfast, before 
and after and during his dinner, and between the 
courses he rolls and smokes his cigarettes, as he does 
when he goes to bed and when he gets up. Only 
when he sleeps he does not smoke. The men do 
this, but the ladies do not smoke, as they have the 
credit of doing, though a gentleman always offers ~~^2 ^-^ "Wlta^*. 
his cigarettes when he takes one himself. Elderly 
ladies enjoy a cigarette, and occasionally a ranchero 
(a farmer) and his wife may be seen smoking in the 
cars, and many women of the middle or lower classes 
smoke incessantly, but in polite society it is not the 
custom among the women to smoke. In the restau- 
rants and hotels smoking is permitted -in the dining- 
room, and is indulged in. In the churches and 




50 

in the Pullman cars are the only places where smoking is prohibited. At 
all other places it is permitted; at the theater, but not during the performance; 
at the circus and bull fight it is the thing to do. At the bull fight cigars, 
instead of bouquets, are thrown to the toreadores. 

The high and middle grades of Mexican cigars are better than the domestic 
cigars of the United States, and their best cigars are far better. The Mexican 
cigar is cheap, but the imported article is very high. Many smokers use 
cigars, but the great majority use cigarettes made of native tobacco, which 
they roll dexterously. It is advised to buy only the brands of well-known 




A PATIO. 

makers, and, above all things, avoid the peddler and street venders; buy from 
first-(.lass stands always. 

Matches necessarily go with the smoker's outfit, and Mexican matches are 
the best in the world; they are double-enders, light at both ends. A stroke 
of economy goes with every match — the striking of the other end. If you 
are asked for a light the unused end is always returned. It is good as a 
picture to see the courtesy and politeness exhibited in giving and taking a 
light — the wave of the hand in thanks and the return of the match — and another 
one to see three or four cigarettes held over the blaze of a single match. 
The community of interest in that little fire, protected from the blowing out 
by one man's hand, is wonderful, and the sociability of the scene pleasing to 
a degree. Some other man of some other race might have blessed the man 
who invented sleep, but I think every Mexican blesses the man who invented 
smoke. 



I 



51 

Police and. Military — The police are not as hard to find in Mexico as in 
some other countries, and there are soldiers everywhere, not as a menace, 
but as a protection. Time was when bandit tales had their scenes laid in 
Mexico, and footpad stories told of her cities, but that is ancient history; the 
rurales of the country districts, the police and military in the towns and cities, / 
have been regulators that regulated, till now all is peace and protection. ^ , 

There has never been but one "hold up" of a passenger train in Mexico, 
and that by American border thugs. Train robbers are ordered to be shot 
on the spot of the hold up, and orders are obeyed in Mexico. There are no 
dime museums, hence the bandits must necessarily be shot. The police of 
the cities are a well-trained, disciplined body of men, and always within call. 



il 




THE RURALES. 

In the City of Mexico and in the larger cities a policeman stands at street 
intersections ; his lantern is placed in the middle of the street, and the long 
row of flickering lights up and down, in either direction, tells of the watch- 
men of the night, who watch while we sleep. Your Mexican policeman never 
lets the wrong man go ; he lets no guilty man escape ; in case of altercation, 
dispute or difficulty he arrests all hands. No matter what occurs, when you 
are asked to accompany a policeman to the "comiseria" it is the part of dis- 
cretion to accede to his request — no harm can come to the innocent and the 
matter is quickly settled by the officer in charge. The policeman is a soldier 
as well, and almost without exception is courteous and obliging, will go out 
of his beat to show the way or find a place for you. 



52 

A national feast day will show what Mexican soldiery is; a fine, well- 
trained body of men, whose pride and patriotism is to be applauded. Of the 
infantry, artillery, or cavalry the rurales are the pride and the pink of the ar my. 

The rurales are the country police, mounted on the finest horses, *and uni- 
formed in the most picturesque manner, with saddles and trappings richly 
decorated. The men are fine specimens of humanity, stout and well built, wear- 
ing the broad sombrero of the country, a short leathern jacket and trousers 
braided and bedecked, all with silver braid and gold. They are armed to the 
teeth with latest improved arms, and well they know how to use them, for 
they were born to their use as their fathers before them. The first corps 
of the rurales was recruited from the bandits of the countrv in the seventies. 




THE SOLDIERS. 

Among other reforms instituted by President Diaz this was one of the most 
important. He found tribes of bandits scattered all over the country whose 
fathers before them had been bandits — they were a fine body of men, who 
knew every hole and corner of the country and could not easily be put down. 
General Diaz offered amnesty and to organize them into a corps of the army, 
with a regular pay, higher than any other cavalryman in any of the armies 
of the world. The bandit accepted the amnesty and became a rural. The mili- 
tary education and army regulation is very similar to that of the United States; 
the West Point of Mexico is at Chapultepec; the officers' grades are almost 
identical with those of the United States. 

The Jefe Politico is the chief political officer of a district comprising sev- 
eral towns or villages; under him is the Alcalde, who is the mayor in the <v 



53 

smaller towns. The police have no discretion in case of a quarrel or fight 
on the street or elsewhere; all hands are arrested and hutried off to the com- 
iseria; every man is presumed guilty until he proves his innocence. 

Doctors and Medicines — The physicians of Mexico rank high among the 
doctors of the world. A great many of them speak English and French, and 
Spanish, of course. There are physicians from Germany, France and England 
and the United States, and many of them prominent in their profession. The 
country is healthful, but at the same time the information as to physicians and 
medicines is essential, and one need hot be in Mexico without the best medical 
attendance. 

Cargadores — This gentry combines the usefulness of the district telegraph 
boy and street porter. They are strong, heavy-built men that carry the greatest 
weights, from a trunk to a piano; they meet all trains and are in and about the 
hotels ready to take the place of an expressman, and will convey baggage or do 
errands of any kind. The men are trusty and reliable, are licensed by the 
City Council, and carry on their breasts a brass plate with the number of their 
license. The tariff varies according to the service to be performed. In em- 
ploying a cargador always give directions explicitly; better write them down 
and give him the card. Alwaj^s take the number of his tag. 

Churcli Visiting — The Mexican venerates the very walls of his church; 
he does not pass in front of it without removing his hat, and it behooves the 
visitor to respect what the native venerates. It is not advisable, nor is it nec- 
essary, to follow the native customs, but no man will forget himself and wear 
his hat in the church or treat with levity what the others may do. The attend- 
ants in the churches are usually very courteous and willing to show what- 
ever may be there of interest. There is not always a fee for this service, but 
an offering for the poor of the parish is always acceptable. It is a good custom 
that will commend you to these people to make a contribution, however small. 
In the towns and villages throughout this country the best information may be 
ojbtained from the priest, and you secure his good will by calling on him for it. 
The people seeing you on good terms with the padre regard you as a person 
of importance, and will join in their attentions. Without exception the priests 
are most courteous and obliging, and will often put themselves out for your 
convenience. 

Postage — The rate on letters from Mexico to the United States and 
Canada is 5 cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof; to all points in 
Mexico the rate is 5 cents; to all other countries in the postal union lo cents; 
the registry fee is lo cents; newspapers, i cent for each two ounces or fraction 
thereof; other printed matter, i cent per ounce and three-fourths, or fraction 
thereof, to the United States and Canada, and 2 cents to European countries, 
in Mexican money. The limit of weight of printed matter is 4.4 pounds. In the 
larger cities there is a regular system of delivery by carriers, and a letter with 
its proper address will be delivered promptly. 

There is a printed list in the Post Office, posted in the lobby, announcing 
letters on hand not delivered ; these lists are posted daily. Letters from the 
United States to Mexico are 2 cents per ounce or fraction thereof ; newspapers 
the same as to domestic points in United States money. 

Express Service — The Wells-Fargo Company operate over the Mexican 
Central and Sonora Railways ; the Mexican Ry. and the Mexican National op- 
erate their own express service. All other railroads have an express depart- 
ment that connects with the other express companies. The various express 
companies in the United States connect with those of Mexico. 

Telegraph — The Mexican Government owns and controls a system of 
telegraph wires reaching to all parts of the country. The various railroad 



54 

companies also operate commercial wires along their lines, having connection 
with the Western Union and Postal Telegraph Companies at the border. The 
Cable Company has wires from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico and sends 
messages to the United States via Galveston. 

Newspapers — The Mexican Herald, a daily of metropolitan proportions 
and style, issued every morning, is printed in English. Associated Press 
and special dispatches from all parts of the world are printed in the Herald. 
An afternoon English daily is The Record, with telegrams of the Associated 
Press. All the American dailies of the larger cities are on sale at the various 
news stands, and also the latest weeklies and magazines. 

The Sonora News Company has agents on all tirst-class trains of the trunk 
lines in Mexico, with the latest periodicals and literature of the da}'. 

Among the daily papers printed in the Spanish language are El Diario, El 
Popular, El Tiempo, El Imparcial, Correo Espahol, El Heraldo, El Pais, etc., 
giving foreign and domestic news; these and the English papers mentioned are 
published in the City of Mexico. The other larger cities of the Republic all 
have their newspaper publications, including weeklies in the English language. 
The Monterey News, of ^Monterey, is a daily printed in English. 

The first newspaper to be published in Mexico was the "Gaceta" which made 
its appearance in the City of Mexico in 1722 during the vice-royalty of Juan 
de Acuna, Marques de Casafuerte. The paper was under the direction of Juan 
Erancisco Sahagun de Arrevalo till 1728. The Gaceta appeared regularly till 
1807, since which time there is no record of its existence. The Gaceta was an 
important paper in its day and its files contain interesting data much sought 
after by the writers of that country. 

Baths — In the smallest villages and towns, and in all of the larger cities are 
unusually good baths. They are not always to be found in the hotels, but in 
some central location, or convenient place near a street-car line. As a rule 
the baths are good and clean. The piece of soap furnished is just the size neces- 
sary for a single bath. The attendant furnishes this, together with towels, comb, 
brush and a small bottle of oil, presumably for the hair, and a wisp of the fiber 
called ixtle, all of which is included in the price, which varies from 12)^ to 25 cents. 

From the elegant baths of the metropolis and the larger cities to the primitive 
pools of the villages there are pleasant surprises for the cleanly everywhere. 

Servants — The servants in the hotels and restaurants are polite and atten- 
live, which politeness and attention is always greatly enhanced by a fee, and 
which is always expected. They are not accustomed to large fees, and a medio 
or real is about the average ; this custom applies also to the hackmen, who 
always expect this in addition to their regular fare. 

Dulces — The dulces of Mexico are very toothsome. These sweets come from 
Celaya, Queretaro and Morelia, places most famous for these delicacies. 

Candies and confections of every sort and make, native, French and American 
are to be found in the most attractive shops in the Capital and in many of the 
other cities of the Republic. 

Streets — The rule to go to the right in walking on the street does not 
always apply, the preferred regulation being to give ladies and your friends the 
inside both in walking with and meeting them, all others taking care of them- 
selves and walk where they can, as you will find it necessary to do. 

The streets are for the most part well paved and lighted and kept scrupu- 
lously clean by constant sweeping. Streets and sidewalks are very narrow 
except in the newer districts. 

An effort has been made by the government of the City of Mexico 
to rename the streets and renumber the houses, but it is a difficult 



55 

matter to change a name that has been known for centuries, hence the old 
names of streets are still in use, in spite of city ordinances a.n"d blue enamel 
signs proclaiming the new ones. The new system is as intricate as the old 
and it is probable that only a police officer or cab driver is conversant with 
the new. The changes- are deemed inadvised for many reasons, besides that 
of the confusion among the masses, and an important one is that of the his- 
toric and romantic incident that gave the old names is lost sight of in the new, 
and both visitor and inhabitant are loth to part with those so full of interest. 
They do not want to change the Calle de Revillagigedo, even if it is hard to 
pronounce, for South street; or the Avenida de los Hombres Ilustres, the 
"avenue of illustrious men," for plain, commonplace Western avenue. I think 




THE PRESIDENT ON PARADE. 

ancient street names were not sacrilegious when they called one the street of 
the Love of God, Amor de Dios; street of the Holy Ghost, Espiritu Santo ; or 
the street of Jesus — probably only a trifle overreligious, as what we would 
call profanity of names, the Mexican does not consider in that light. 

Many of the Saints' names are given to the streets in Mexico, but that 
is done in all countries, and it is explained that the streets named for the 
Deity or the Saints take their names from the churches located on or near 
them. Many are curiously named, as the Calle Nino Perdido, street of the. 
Lost Child: Indio Triste, the Sad Indian; but as many record names and 
dates of history, as ""Cinco de Mayo,^^ the 5th of May; Juarez, Hidalgo, Com- 
monfort and Zaragoza. A street may have a dozen names, as each block 
often has a different one, but if one name is continued for several squares a 
numeral prefix is used, as ist San Francisco, 2nd San Francisco, etc. San 
Francisco is the main thoroughfare of the city, the fashionable down-town 



66 




promenade, extending from the Alameda, where 
it is called the Puente de San Francisco, and end- 
ing at the Plaza Mayor, in the name of Plateros, 
the intervening blocks being called ist and 2nd 
San Francisco. 

A reason is given — they are too numerous to 
quote — for the name of each street; that of the 
Sad Indian from the finding of the quaint piece 
of sculpture, El Indio Triste ; Cinco de Mayo is 
named for the battle of the 5th of May, 1862, and 
the defeat of the French at Puebla. The Calle de 
Revillagigedo was named for erratic old Conde 
and Viceroy of that name, whose lively adminis- 
tration did so much to improve the streets of the 
City of Mexico. He had them cleaned, paved 
and lighted, and they have remained so to this 
day, better than in a more modern city. 

The word Puente, or abbreviation, pte., signi- 
fies that there was originally a bridge over a 
canal in that street. Calle is a street and Calle j oil 
an alley or small street; Cahada means a cause- 
way; Rinconada means a corner, and Ave- 
mda, an avenue; Paseo, a boulevard. Under the new system the streets are 
numbered north and south and the avenues also numbered cross them east and 
west at right angles; it is difficult for the novice in the Spanish language to 
remember these numbers, and much easier to recall the old names. A map 
may be of assistance, but a cab is the surest way to find a street or number. 
Cttstoms and Costumes — I had heard of the courtesy and hos- x-~ 

pitality of the Spaniard, and remembered, when I entered a Spanish 
home, being welcomed and told "this house is yours," and when I 
had admired some object, was informed that it was mine; when I* 
came to ]\Iexico I found the descendants of old Spain had lost no 
whit of cordiality, and the welcome at place of business or the 
home, was warm and spontaneous to a degree. Every house 
was mine, all that was in it my own, and everybody at my 
orders. 

The dress of the Mexican is a picturesque one, of which 
the wide sombrero is the feature, often richly trimmed in gold 
or silver lace, with a crest or monogram on the crown. This 
elaborate head-gear often costs fifty to sixty dollars, though 
a less ornate hat may be bought for fifty cents without a cor- 
responding decrease in size. A short jacket coming to or a 
little below the waist is also trimmed in gold and silver; the 
tight-fitting trousers, wide at the sharp-pointed shoe, have 
two or three rows of gilt buttons. The complete costume 
always includes a zerape of many colors; a zerape is a 
blanket or shawl worn over the shoulders, thrown in a knightly 
fashion, with the fringed and tasseled end over the left shoulder. 
Men of all classes wear the zerape. Overcoats are almost 
unknown, except among the better classes. The principal and 
favorite part of a costume is the sombrero. A Alexican 
may go barefooted, and wear cotton trousers, but he'll 
have a thirty-dollar hat if he can get it. The man on 





67 

horseback in Mexico is a symphony in gold lace and buttons, 

and the trappings of his horse and saddle are most elaborate. 

There are dudes iri Mexico. They call a dude ''un 

lagartijoy He wears the most gold lace and buttons, the 

tightest trousers and the widest hat. In other respects 

>he differs not from the dude of other countries, and further 

space need not be wasted here. 

For ladies of high degree, the Spanish mantilla of 
black or white lace still does a fascinating duty in place 
of the hat or bonnet, and the Spanish costume from 
shoulder to high-heeled pointed slipper. The middle classes 
wear a black tapalo, a shawl which is both wrap and head- 
gear. The lower classes and Indian maidens wear in the 
vSame way a scarf of cotton, usually blue or brown; this is 
the reboso. Mexican women are almost without excep- 
tion of fine form, healthy and robust. There are thousands 
of pretty faces, of richest color, long lashes, soft and downy 
ear-locks, black as jet, and with long, inky black hair. 
Under the tapalo or reboso is many a Venus; the corset 
is unknown, and nature forms to perfection. 

Ladies embrace each other at meeting, and kiss on 
the cheek. Men embrace their friends, and pat each 
other on the back. In passing on the street, instead 
of saying "How'dy," they say "Adios — Good-by." 
Other salutations are: Before noon it is buenos dias; 
after noon, buenos tardes; after dark, buenas noches. 
Politeness and courtesy are characteristic of Mexico, and it is seen con- 
stantly everywhere; a Mexican will not enter a door or pass up a staircase 
ahead of his companion without an insisting ^''Pase seiior,''^ urgently put, 
till it is seen that one must go first, and then age or rank, or guest takes 
precedence. 

Following the customs of their ancestors, the 
young people of Mexico have not that freedom of 
association as in America. A young lady may not 
indulge in the society of her young man except in 
the presence of others; in fact, he may not even 
call upon her, as in this, or other English speaking 
countries. He must win her by haciendo del oso — 
playing bear. This does not mean that the young 
man indulges in any idiosyncrasies of the bear, 
when he (the bear) catches a victim. At a certain 
hour in the day the devoted lover comes 
under the lady's window, and when she 
comes to the casement he may stand 
and look at her, exchange glances, smiles 
and nods, go away and come back again 
to-morrow and do it all over again. Any- 
where else this would seem to be flirtation 
itself, but here in Mexico it is "playing 
the bear," and is perfectly proper. If he 
is faithful and keeps this up for two or 
three years, he may finally be allowed to 
call and see her in the presence of another 
member of the family. If all goes 





58 

smoothly they "marry and live happy to the end of their days," as in the 
fairy story. 

They are a music-loving people, whose souls are moved by a concord of 
sweet sounds, and if love of niusic is the test, few Mexicans are fit for treason, 
stratagems and spoils. No jacal is too humble but what its adobe walls listen 
to the tinkle of the guitar, and no village so small but its band of native 
miusicians will play in the little alameda in the evenings. In the larger towns 
and great cities there is music in some plaza or park every day by the mili- 
tary bands — an example set by the Government in giving the people music, 
that might be emulated by the United States greatly to its credit. 

There are fiddlers in Mexico and some violinists. The fiddlers sometimes 
come under the car window of a passing train, and in hopes of a centavo 




THERE'S MUSIC. 

thrown, give sampler of native music. There are some who carp at these 
crude musicians, but they are those who do not appreciate fiddling as a fine 
art, or the difficulties thereof. Themistocles said he "could not fiddle, but 
he could make a small town a great city," proving that the attainment of 
proficiency in fiddling is attended by hard work. When the weird sounds 
come into your window let the centavitas go, for whatever work the player 
may not have done, he has learned to fiddle. 

There is music everywhere, there's music in the air, a music peculiar to 
the country and the people, a music of song, of stringed and wind instru- 
ments that plays at morning, noon and night. There are songs of praise and 
songs of mirth, and love songs. 

There are songs of home. The people have their "Home, sweet home" 
in the notes of La Golondrina. Since music, heavenly maid, was young, she 
hath not ceased to soothe the heart of savage and civilized man, and her 
songs of home have been sweetest and dearest to his ear. That song of 
''Home, sweet home" is one that touches the American heart, as La Golon- 
drina melts the Mexican and brings memories of his, whether it be of adobe 



69 



or of stone. Whether the soft melodies are picked from the strings of a 
guitar, or sefiorita sweetly sings the touching notes, or organized orchestra 
fills the ambient air with its tuneful tones, all there is of sentiment even in 
the stoutest, sternest heart, wells up in tenderness when the home song's 
music greets the ear, brighter, glistening eyes and quicker heart throbs tell 
that the melody strikes the soul. 

Official Pertnits — Permits or passes are required to visit the various pub- 
lic institutions, such as the Palace of Chapultepec, the National Palace, etc. 
They are obtained from the Governor of the Palace, who is very courteous 
and obliging. When visiting an hacienda or for the ascent of Popocatepetl, 
permits should be obtained from the owners, most of whom reside in the city. 

Laundries — The laundry as it exists in this country has not been es- 
tablished in all the cities in Mexico. Where there are no steam laundries 
the bell boy on your floor of the hotel is agent for numerous and sundry 
lavanderas, washerwomen of more or less proficiency, but who in the main 
do very satisfactory work. The bell boy will attend to all details, and the 
linen delivered to him will be safely returned. Lists should be retained and 
checked with the returned articles, and any missing pieces will be looked 
up; rarely is anything lost through these people, and their work is, for the 
most part, promptly and carefully done. Prices are about the same as in 
cities of the same size in other countries. 

Batiks — The system of banking in Mexico is very similar to that of the 
United States and other countries. There are many reliable institutions under 
Mexican, American and English management, with correspondents in all parts 
of the world. Bank drafts, letters of credit, and all classes of foreign exchange 
received and issued and foreign money bought and sold. 




PI n\A/cD MADLTCT r^iTv r\is Mcyinn 



60 

Clubs — Nearly every city and town in Mexico has its clubs, social or polit- 
ical — the "Casino" nearly always ranking highest in a social way. These clubs 
are well housed in fine buildings, well decorated and furnished, notably the 
Casino of Monterey. In many places the foreign element have established well 
appointed clubs. 

The City of Mexico has a distinctive club life, at the head of which stands 
the Jockey club, whose beautiful home, in "The House of Tiles," on San Fran- 
cisco street is opened to a membership made up of the best in Mexican society, 
and a small list of foreign members. Few visitors are introduced there. 

The American club's quarters on Calle Independencia are the chief meeting 
place of the American residents of the city. There are ample rooms, an excellent 
restaurant, and a special section for the wives and families of members. Cards 
for two weeks are given members in favor of their friends on request, the 
guests thus honored having the privilege of renewing the card on payment of 
a small due fee. 

The Country club, near the town of Churubusco, is one of the handsomest 
of its kind on the continent. Visitors are introduced in person by club members, 
and cards for two weeks are issued in favor of non-residents of the federal 
district to club members. 

The University club has a handsome home on Calle Bucareli, into which 
members are privileged to introduce their friends, though not oftener than once 
every two months. Visitors' cards for two weeks are issued to visiting college 
men on the request of club members. 

The British club is made up of British subjects and a very few members of 
other colonies and of Mexicans. Its quarters on San Francisco street, above 
Gambrinus' restaurant, are handsome, and invitations there on the feast days, 
when military reviews pass down San Francisco, are much sought after. Visitors' 
cards are issued at the request of members, for a period of two weeks, subject 
to renewal. 

The Casino de Mexico has its club house on the Paseo de la Reforma, No. 
26, near the statue of Charles IV. The membership includes prominent people 
socially and politically. 

The Spanish club, on Calle Espiritu Santo, has one of the handsomest club 
buildings in the city. Its membership is made up largely of members of the 
Spanish colony. 

The French club has its quarters on Calle de la Palma. 

There are two German clubs, one with quarters on Calle Zuleta, and the 
other having its club house on Calle Lopez. 

Markets — The markets of Mexico are wholly unlike the markets of any 
other country, picturesque to a degree, and are of the first attraction to the tour- 
ist. Every village has its market place, and in all the towns and cities the mar- 
ket buildings are more or less pretentious, some of them are really fine buildings 
as in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Orizaba, Jalapa. The 
market of Oaxaca is particularly attractive. The markets of the City of Mexico 
are not so pleasing as those of the smaller towns ; the Volador market is in the 
square immediately south of the National Palace, in the rear of the buildings 
fronting the street. This market is commonly called "The Thieves." by cour- 
tesy (?) of the tourist; no native can or will tell you why. The vendors 
of the Volador formerly exposed their wares on the Plaza Mayor from which 
they were banished in' 1659. 

The Merced Market is four or five blocks south of the Palace on the street 
Porta Coeli — one of the largest in the city. There are others but these will 
suffice for visiting purposes. 







Amttsements. 



Teatro Principal — In the old Aztec days, the days when the gladi- 
ators fought before Tzins of Tenochtitlan, there had not been any dearth 
of amusement for the people of the ancient capital, and as the pagan priests 
of those days incited the warriors to combat with the victim prisoners for 
the honor of their gods, so the priests of later times were the promoters of 
more modern, but less bloody amusement, and the church was responsible 
..for the building of the first theater in the City of Mexico. The Brothers 
of the Order of San Hipolito, to raise funds for the benefit of the Hospital 
Real, erected a small wooden building and employed a company of players 
who gave the initial performance on the evening of January 19th, 1722. 

The play on the first program was "The Ruin and Burning of Jerusalem." 
History gives no details of the success of the performance and we are left 
in the dark as to the names of "the star" and his support, but we are in- 
formed that the Burning of Jerusalem resulted in the burning of the theater, 
a consummation that was looked upon by the natives as a direct visitation 
of Heaven for the unholy method taken to obtain money for a holy cause. 
The piece underlined for the second evening was "Here Was Troy," but 
there was no theater and the performance was indefinitely postponed. Noth- 
ing daunted, the energetic brethren of Hipolito immediately set about building 
another theater, and in 1725 erected a third building in the street now known 
as Colioeo Viejo, and in 1752 the building the Teatro Principal was corn- 
el 



62 

menced and was completed in the next year on Christmas Day, and opened 
with the appropriately named comedy "Better It Is Than It Was." 

Up to that time the theater was the property of the Hospital Real, and 
continued in that possession until the institution ceased to exist, when it, 
was conveyed to the College of San Gregorio by an order dated October 
nth, 1824, where the title remained till 1846, when it became private prop- 
erty. 

For many years the entrance to the old theater could be seen under the 
portales, but it has disappeared, as has much of the original building, but 
the old walls remain, except in the facade, which is of recent construction. 
The interior arrangement, though, shows the massive style of architecture 
of the olden times, with the thick stone walls around the parquet and 
between the boxes and stalls, and although you may not understand the 
language of the players it may be worth your while to visit the ancient play 
house and oldest theater in Mexico. 

The National Theater, which was the grand opera house of the Mexican 
capital, has been torn down to make way for the opening of the Calle de Cinco 
de Mayo, the street that is to run from the Cathedral to the Alameda. _ The 
national government is building a magnificent opera house and theater in the 
block between San Francisco and Mariscala — fronting on the Alameda and San 
Francisco Street. 

The Renacimietito Theatre now called the Virginia Fabregas, on 
the Calle de Puerta Falsa de San Andres is the fashionable theater at this 
writing, and will be until the National Theater is completed. The Renacimiento 
has a seating capacity of 1,800 to 2,000 people. Here may be found Italian and 
French opera, as well as Mexican and Spanish dramatic art. 

In many Mexican theaters you may pay for and see one act or the whole 
show at 25 cents per act, or tanda, as it is called. A collector passes through 
the audience after the first act to collect for the second. 

Between the acts those of the male persuasion who do not "go out to see a 
man" put on their hats and stand in their places, surveying the audience. 

The Teatro Lirico, is on the Calle Aguila, opened in 1906, is one of the 
best equipped playhouses in Mexico. 

The Arbeu Theater is in the street of San Felipe; it was opened in 
1875. The Hidalgo Theater is in the Calle Corchero. These are the theaters of 
the middle classes, considered respectable, but the performances are not always 
of a high order, and they are the places for the carnival balls. 

Salon De Conciertos is the hall for concerts in the Conservatory of 
Music, where high-class concerts by students, and social performances are given. 
It has an auditorium with full theatric and operatic facilities. 

The Hidalgo Theatre on the Calle de Corchero is for the poorer classes. 

Circo-Teatro Orrin is a circus theater, as its name indicates. It 
is the outgrowth of the circus of the Orrin Brothers, formerly housed in a 
tent on the Plaza de Santo Domingo, and moved to the present handsome 
iron building that cost $ioo,coo on the Plazuela Villamil. Here is a theater 
and circus merged in one. The ring is surrounded by a dress circle and 
tier of private boxes, beyond which is a circle of gallery seats, and when 
the ring is not in use the s])ace serves as a parquet, in front of \vhich is a 
very pretty stage, with the circus performers' entrances on each side of the 
orchestra. The ring ma)^ be transformed into a miniature lake, deep enough 
to float canoes, small sail and steamboats, or it may be made into a palace 



63 

while you wait, and from the region beyond the curtain may come in a 
tiny coach of state the Prince and Cinderella, a pretty transformation, in 
full view of the audience, one of the novelties for which the management is 
noted. The winter months are the season for the circus, while light opera 
holds the boards during the summer, but at all times there are novelties 
worthy of the metropolitan amusement places of greater cities. 

The Orrins have long been "known for their liberality and many chari- 
ties, giving frequent benefits for charitable institutions, hospitals, both native 
and foreign. Fashionable and gala performances are of frequent occurrence, 
then there are handsome decorations of bunting and flowers. The boxes are 
profusely ornamented, corsage bouquets and boutonnierres are presented to 




CIRCO-TEATRO ORRIN. 

the occupants, who, in coming to their places, have literally walked on roses, 
and on state occasions the President attends. His private box is in the center 
of the box tier, is alwavs reserved for his use, and never occupied by anyone 
else ; it may be recognized as always adorned with the national colors. The 
Circo-Teatro Orrin is now under the direction of Don Ricardo Bell. 

Ball Games are popular in Mexico, and fine buildings called "Frontons" are 
erected in different parts of the city, in which are played a Spanish variety 
of handball or basket ball. Performances are given under electric lights in the 
evening, in addition to the afternoon games. Golf, baseball and cricket have 
their votaries, but mostly among the American and English colonies. 

Races at the Indianilla and Peiion tracks are under the direction of the 
racing association and of the Jockey Club. 

Bull Fights — The spirit of Tauromachy inherited from old Spain lives 
in the most popular amusement of Mexico, that is, if it may be called an 



64 

"amusement" and if we call it "popularity" that enjoys the largest patron- 
age. An honest effort has been made by the government to stop the cruel 
sport by the enactment of laws interdicting the functions in the Federal 
District and other metropolitan localities, but the laws were repealed as 
often as enacted, so great was the pressure of popular demand from the 
masses, and notwithstanding the influence and example of non-attendance 
of the best people, the Plaza de Toros is easily the most popular amusement 
in Mexico. 

"The better the day the better the deed" may not be a Mexican maxim, 
but the better days are given over to the bull fight. Sundays and feast days 
are chosen, and on no other day are the plazas open. 




AT THE BULL FIGHT. 

The Plaza de Toros is the bull ring — a great circular building of stone 
or wood with an interior that is an immense amphitheater seating thousands 
of people. The seats are in tiers rising to the top where the private boxes 
are. and as there is no roof except over the outer circle shading the boxes, 
there is a shady side called "^ow^^ra" and a sunny side. "J6>/," with prices in 
accordance with the location, from 25 to 50 cents in the sun and $1 to $3 in 
the shade, the private boxes with eight to ten chairs cost from $12 to $20 
according to the reputation of the company giving the performance, as they 
vary greatly as the stars and support in a theatrical troup, and what may be 
the price when only local talent are on the bills will be largely increased 
when a star matador and his company are underlined. Tickets may be 
bought at the gates, but it is always best to buy them in advance, usually 



65 




on sale at some cigar store frequented by the toreadores or at the city offices 
of the bull ring, the locations of which are announced in the advertisements. 
The ring itself is an arena about a hundred feet in diameter encircled by 
a strong board fence about five feet high with a foot rail on the inside two 
feet from the ground. This is to assist a torero too closely pursued by the 
bull to escape by a leap over the fence to the passage way that extends 
around the ring between the fence and the seats. But it is not always an 
escape, since the bull often leaps the barrier in pursuit of his tormentor or 
to get away from him, and at intervals in the passage way short barriers 
are placed just far enough from the wall to admit the body of the man 
and not wide enough for the bull's horns. There are gates that open into 
the ring and at the same time close the passage and thus the bull is forced 

to return to the ring. 
There is a "president" to 
preside at each corrida or 
performance, to direct the 
details and to decide all 
-^ differences of opinion be- 
tween the people and the 
performers. There are al- 
ways questions to be de- 
cided, and the president, 
usually a state or municipal 
officer, must be a man of 
COMING OF THE COMPANY. exccutivc ability and well 

posted in tauromachy. His seat is in a gorgeously decorated box near the 
center of the shady side, and when he enters, with a staff of high-up, well- 
known lovers of the sport, it is the signal for much cheering, especially so if 
he is a president whose decisions have been favorable to the people. 

The president has the general direction of the corrida, when he is ready 
the company must be, and when he has given his permission for the bulls 
to be killed then the killing commences, A bugler 
stands at the president's side to call the signals to 
remove the horses, or a bull that may prove too « 
tame, to call the banderilleros and announce the 
killing of the bull. Hence it may be seen how 
easily a president may be popular or unpopular 
with the masses, as he may or may not give them 
quite enough of bloody action on the scene. Any 
deviation from the program must be with the con- 
sent and approval of the president, and the per- 
formance cannot end until he is satisfied that the 
advertisement has been carried out. There is music 
by one or more brass bands that may be heard by 
those sitting very near, but the shouts and cat-calls 
of the canaille drown all semblance of music for 
those on the opposite side of the arena, but the 
musicians are there and you can see when they are 
playing. A company of soldiers stationed within 
call of the president with another company deployed 
about the arena to do police duty, and try to pre- 
vent the too enthusiastic members of the audience 
from taking charge of the whole thing, throwing 
the seats into the ring, or other mild methods the picador. 




66 




ENTRANCE OF BULL. 



of evincing their disapproval of an act or presidential 
decision. The soldiers are rarely called into active 
service; their presence has a wholesome effect, and 
while the mad enthusiast who would like to see a horse 
gored just once more, and gets madder because the 
president says there has been enough of it, feels like 
fighting the whole company, he is usually pacified by 
a gentle touch on his shoulder by the gendarme and 
growlingly subsides. 

The scene is a brilliant one and the tension of nerves 
is great in anticipation of what is to come, the feeling 
is one of amazement and anxious expectation. The 
bands are playing, or seem to be, and the thousands of 
impatient spectators are shouting, whistling and yelling themselves hoarse. 
There may be five thousand people, 
but there is noise enough, and seats 
too, for twenty thousand, and if there 
is a star matador they will all be 
occupied. The president and his 
companions are in their places, and 
the applause grows greater as the 
gates on the other side of the arena 
open to admit a gaily costumed 
horseman mounted on a splendid 
horse; he is the alguazil; he rides 
directly to the front of the president's 
box and asks permission to kill the 
bulls. Permission granted, the presi- 
dent tosses to him the key of the 
toril, which he catches, and gallops 
back to receive the company. If he 
catches the key there is applause; if 
he misses it, a storm of hisses. The 
gate opens again and the coming of 
the gay company is loudly an- 
nounced with a grand flourish of 
trumpets. It is a brilliant spectacle, this company of nimble-footed athletes 
in costumes of silk and satin, gold and velvet, as they march quickly across 

the arena to make their obeis- 
ance to the president and then 
to the audience. First in the 
gay procession come the niata- 
dores or espadas, the stars of 
the company, who handle the 
swords to the death of tlie 
bulls; next the banderilleroh^ 
second only to the matadores 
in the profession; these gen- 
tlemen are they who place the 
bafiderillas in the bull's shoul- 
ders, and then the capeadores^ 
third in rank, w'ho hope to be 
banderilleros and some day 
PLACING THE BANDERiLLAS. matadores, but now have only 




ATTACK OF THE PICADOR. 




67 




to manipulate the capes to distract the bull's 

attention or place him in proper position for 

the banderilla or the sword. The picadores 

follow on horseback, their long lances in hand. 

Then four mules, gaily caparisoned, harnessed 

together and driven to an arrangement of 

traces for dragging out dead bulls and horses. 

Behind these, two men with wheelbarrows, i 

shovels, rakes and brooms, for cleaning up ' 

the ring, and then the attendants, ^'sabios^ 

monos," the wise monkeys, as they are called 

from their good suggestion and advice to the 

performers — diestros, torei^os or toreadoj^es, 

as the bull-fighters are called. The toreador 

is recognized on the street by a costume as 

distinctly his own as the one of silk and satin, bursting the barrier. 

gold and velvet that he wears in the ring; it is a short "round-about" jacket 

with very tight trousers; the hat has a straight stiff brim with a low flat top 

felt crown; under the rim of the hat is a little queue of plaited hair, called 

a coleta; what this is for does not appear, but if any offense against the ethics 

of the sport is committed this queue is cut off, so the possession of it may 

be regarded as a reward of merit, that when a toi'ero is retired is cut off with 

a scissors of gold. 

Proceeding to the president's |)ox, and having received his acknowl- 
edgments, the company parades around the arena to receive the plaudits of 
the people. 

Now all is ready, the beautiful capes of satin and velvet are thrown to 
admirers in the audience, for it is an honor to hold a toreador's cape; as they 
are not used in the ring, cheaper and stronger capes of bright-colored oil- 
cloth are taken instead. Every one except the toreros have left the ring 
and for a brief moment there is complete silence. The bugle sounds. All 
eyes are turned to a low door on the other side that is suddenly thrown open. 
From a dark stall beyond the bull is coming. As he passes under the rail 
a barbed steel point covered with flowing ribbons is placed in his shoulder; 
the colors of these ribbons indicate the ranche or hacienda from whence he 

came, as the bulls are bred on cer- 
tain farms for their fighting quali- 
ties, and your smallest sport can 
pick out a good fighter when he 
sees the ribbons as easily as a 
'Kentucky boy does the winner in a 
horse race by the colors of the 
jockey's jacket. The bull comes 
from a dark stall where he has been 
kept previous to the fight, finding 
the gates suddenly opened and a 
possible way of escape, gallops 
through a scarcely less dark passage 
that leads him to the open arena 
and to certain death. Startled by 
the pricking of the steel dart in 
his shoulder and maddened by its 
stinging he bounds forward to the 
LEAPING THE BARRIER. Center of the ring, where, with head 





up and tail lashing the air, he stops a 
second. It is a magnificent sight now 
before the carnage begins. The splen- 
did animal stands and bids defiance as 
he throws the dust over his back,' 
pawing and shaking his shaggy head 
with mingled rage, surprise, and fear, 
perhaps but little of fear, for in a 
second he has decided upon a plan of 
attack. The shouting thousands and 
the blare of trumpets would frighten 
a more fearless beast, but if it scares 
the bull there is no hint of it in his 
action. A look to right or left and the 

unequal fight is on. The throwing play of the capes. 

of a cape in front of him and the thrower is chased to the barrier around 
the ring and the man is over it none too quickly, as he may believe when he 
hears the boards cracking behind him as a pair of sharp horns are thrust 
through them as if they were paper. Foiled here, the bull turns about and 
finds a horse in his way, a poor broken down horse, with eyes blindfolded that 
he may not see his danger. There is no way of escape for the horse, his 
rider spurs him on, and while the picador with his lance may for a moment 
turn the bull and save the horse, it is but deferring the inevitable for the 
time. Passing by this horse the bull finds another on the other side; this 
time the horse does not fare so well; the bull rushes upon him with all his 
might, the sharp horns sink into his flesh as needles into a piece of cloth, 
the horse is lifted bodily into the air and tossed over on the ground with the 
rider underneath perhaps. 

A capeador throws a cape over the bull's face, distracts his attention from 
the i^\\t.VL picador and wounded, or more probable, dead, horse. The capeador 
deftly leads him to the other horse that just now escaped, but now his 
time has come, the bull has learned that the horse is defenseless, the prick- 
ing of the picador''s lance is nothing. While it is intended that the bull should 
be held off and the horse saved it is rarely done, and this one is disem- 
boweled — it may be that if he does not die in his tracks he is ridden on 
around the ring dragging his intestines under his feet, only to be gored 
again and again till he is dead, for without the blood of the horses no bull 
fight is complete. The two horses slain, or so badly disabled that they 
cannot be ridden, the bugle sounds, and unless the president panders to 
the clamor of the crowd for more horses the first act with the first bull is 
over and the banderilleros are ready. 

Now comes the really artistic and interesting feature of the bull fight, 
the placing of the banderillas. The banderilla is a dart about two feet long 
with a sharp barbed point and covered with fancy colored paper or rib- 
bons. The banderillerOy a man without cape or means of defense, takes 
two banderillas, one in each hand, walks out in front of the bull, holding 
them up, shaking the ribbons to call the bull towards him, and as he ap- 
proaches the darts are placed in his shoulders where the barbs cause thenj 
to hang as if they were for ornaments instead of goads to further rage 
and madness. The man is an athlete and a nimble one. It is the rule that 
the darts must not be thrust except while the bull is in action and on the at- 
tack, so it must be done quickly. It is said that the bull in the 'moment 
of attack closes his eyes, so it is but a quick decision of the instant to thrust 
the darts, step to one side, and the bull passes by, only to find another ban- 



derillero on the other side with another pair of banderillas for his further 
decoration. Another rule is that the banderillas must not be placed back 
of the shoulder. If they are properly placed and so firmly that they are 
not shaken out, loud and long is the applause, otherwise the hisses are shrill 
and sharp. The banderillero is a favorite with the lover of tauromachy as 
well as with the first-timers at the fight. It seems with his lack of defense, 
and depending entirely on his agility he is the hero in this contest between 
human skill and brute force, so that it is often the matador comes back from 
his advanced position as a star, much to the delight of the audience^ to try 
his hand and thrust an extra pair of 
banderillas. In all well-regulated 



companies there are two handerilleros, 
each with two pairs of banderillas, 
making eight in all, that, if their 
work is well done, are hanging from 
the bull's shoulders, and the presi- 
dent's bugler announces the end of 
second act and calls the matador to 
kill the bull. As the star in some 
great drama is received with plaudits 
as he enters upon the stage, so is 
the matador with shouts and throw- 
ing of hats, that is, if he is indeed a 
star fnatador known to kill his bulls 
with a single stroke of the sword. 
The m,atador takes his sword and 
muleta, and while the capeadores 
are leading the bull to further weari- 
ness on the other side of the ring, 
advances to the front of the presi-' 
dent's box, hat in hand, dedicates 
the bull to something or somebody, 
some State or County, some man, 
or girl, and tells the president that 
he will kill the bull in the most ap- 
proved style, then, tossing his cap 
to an admirer in the shady seats, 
proceeds to do his part, or after 
saluting the president, he may cross 
to the sunny side, as it is some- 
times well to cater to the rabble, 
and tell the people there that he 
will kill the bull in their especial 




THRUST OF THE SWORD. 



Style and toss his cap there to be held in great honor while he does it. 
Then advancing toward the bull, the matador holds in his right hand a 
long, perfectly straight, sharp-pointed, keen-edged sword; in his left he 
carries the muleta, the "red rag" of the Spanish bull fight, and used only 
in the last act, in the killing of the bull. The muleta is a piece of red flannel 
three or four feet square, held on a stick, near the ground and in front of 
the bull, kept in a fluttering motion before his eyes, which seems to infuriate 
further the already enraged animal. He lowers his head and makes a rush 
for the muleta, which is held, although in the left hand, across to the right 
of the matador; this gives him a fair play for the stroke of the sword, and 
as the bull lowers his head to attack the ''red rag" the right hand of the 
matador drives the sword to the hilt into the bull's shoulders, or between 



70 



them, cutting the spinal cord or piercing the heart, which if it has been wel) 

done brings the bull to his knees and he lies down to die, but it may not be 

, death until the "stroke of mercy" has been 

' given by the cachetero, an attendant with 
a short dagger — who comes from behind 
. and gives the bull a quick, sure thrust 
between the horns to instantaneous death. 
While this is being done the matador is 
bowing his acknowledgments to an en- 
thusiastic audience, who have gone wild 
and thrown their hats, canes, coats, cigars 
and coin into the ring; the hats, canes 
and coats are thrown back to their 
owners, but the cigars and coin are kept 
for future reference. But — if the killing 
has been bungled and the espada's work 
not well done, then instead of canes, hats 
and cigars the disapproving enthusiast 
pulls up the boards, and with the chairs 
and anything that is loose or that he can 
ii?'*| loosen, throws them into the ring. Four 
mules gaily harnessed are then driven in, 
a chain fastened about the heels of the 
dead bull and he is dragged out. Even 
before the dead first bull has disappeared 
and the dead horses dragged out, the two 
picadores appear on other horses worse 
than the first, if possible, the bugle 
sounds again, and another bull bounds 
into the ring to meet the fate of the first; 
DEATH OF THE BULL. after the second another and another till 

five or six' are killed, and if you have been there you are to be the judge 

whether your Sunday after- 
noon has been well spent. 

The upper classes, as a rule, do 

not frequent the bull-ring. 

though there are many and 

brilliant exceptions; you may 

see on the Paseo almost any 

day the most elegant equipage 

on that grand boulevard 

among whose occupants arc 

little children dressed in the 

full ring costume of the torea- 
dor. The Mexican small boy 

plays at bull-fighting as the 

American does at baseball, or 

as the more sporty one puts on dragging out the dead. 

the gloves with his fellows — is it then any wonder that the custom prevails 

since the children are taught to admire it? 







LIBERTY BELL ABOVE THE PALACE GATE. 



The City of Mexico. 



Two hundred years before the Spaniards came to Mexico there was a great 
city in the midst of the lakes that spread out their bright waters in the Vale 
of Anahuac, but it was nearly a thousand years before, that the Toltec tribes 

71 



72 

came down into the beautiful valley. Whatever of chronological data there may 
have been in the picture-writings of the Aztecs was destroyed in the fanatical 
fires that destroyed the temples of Tenochtitlan. 

The not altogether reliable data given by Clavigero places the arrival of 
the Toltecs in Anahuac in the year 648, remaining there till A. D. 1051, when 
they abandoned the country. The Chicimecs came in 1170, the Acolhuans or 
Tezucans in 1200 ; the Mexicans or Aztecs came to Tula in 1196, .and in 1325 
founded the city of Tenochtitlan, and after Tula was their capital city, near 
the center of Anahuac, an empire that comprised some sixteen thousand square 
leagues, though the name Anahuac, which means "near the water" was first 
applied to the plain and valley of Mexico, of only about seventy leagues in 
circumference. 

The Aztecs were a migratory people, not always successful in their wars, 
and at one time were a nation of slaves, but their ferocity soon brought them 
freedom and set them upon their wanderings again; it was at this time that 
they halted on the southern and western shores of Lake Texcoco. Such a 
body of water seemed a sea to them, and the Casique, with a retinue of chiefs, 
sought up and down the shores for a camping place till they came to a rocky 
point jutting out into the lake — here they beheld, perched on a stem of prickly 
cactus, a golden eagle of great size and beauty, with a serpent in his talons, 
his outstretched wings were towards the rising sun — this was taken as an 
auspicious omen indicating a site for their city — the legend is preserved on 
the banner of Mexico — for here the city was built. 

From this miraculous incident the city was called Tenochtitlan, from "tunal" 
a cactus on a stone, but in after years came to be called Mexico, from Mexitli, 
the great war-god of the Aztecs. 

The first houses were of reeds and rushes on foundations of piles set in 
the shallow waters and thus began the building of a Venice of the western 
world that soon came, with its ambitious walls of stone, palaces and temples 
to a greater magnificence even than the beautiful Queen of the Adriatic. The 
primitive houses of reeds and rushes were soon replaced by massive structures, 
totally unlike any other found on the western continent and resembling more 
those of Egypt. The great teocali or temple of the Aztec gods was a pyramidal 
structure over a hundred feet high, requiring a hundred and fourteen steps to 
reach from the ground to the esplanade that was broad enough and "with 
ample room for thirty knights to run their courses in a regular tourney." 

Cortez stood on the top of this temple and looked down upon the city of 
Tenochtitlan with its streets and canals, that are the same streets to-day, with 
newer streets where the canals had been — the causeways that led to the main 
land are the causeways of to-day and are called by the same names — the streets 
led out in all directions from the great teocali, as to-day they lead out in all 
directions from the great Cathedral that stands on its site. 

The Spaniards under Cortez entered the City of Mexico on the 8th of 
November, 1519, coming from the southeast and passing over the causeway 
between Lake Texcoco and Lake Chalco. The Spaniards remained in the 
city until the 1st of July, 1520, when their barbarities caused the people to 
rise in their might and drive them out. 

After the defeat of the Dismal Night, "la noche tristc," the Spaniards re- 
treated over the causeway of Tlacopan or Tacuba, passed around to the north 
of the city and the lakes, fought a battle at Otumba and marched to Tlaxcala, 
thence to Texcoco and laid siege to the city December 31, 1520, crossing 
the lake in bergantines. The defense under Guatemotzin was a gallant one and 
lasted till the KJth of August, 1521, when Cortez made his second triumphal 
entry into the Aztec capital. 




Guatemotzin was put to death and 
the city destroyed, the great temples 
razed to the ground and the Christian 
city founded in the year 1522 by the 
erection of the Atarazanas, or navy 
yard, for the bergantines on the site 
now occupied by the Church of San 
Lazaro. 

When the Spaniards had made 
their occupation of the city perma- 
nent the pooulation decreased as to 
the Mexican element and increased 
in Spanish inhabitants till in 1600 
there were only about 10,000 Indians 
and nearly that many Spaniards, and 
from that time the increase in num- 
bers, both of the Spaniard and mixed 
population, was rapid till the middle 
of the next century there were nearly 
a hundred thousand people and at 
the end of it there were 125,000 peo- 
ple in the City of Mexico, making it 
the metropolis of the western world. 
Which honor, as the largest city on 
the continent, it retained for more 
than 250 years. 

Not until the reign of the fifty-sec- 
ond viceroy, Juan Vicente de Giiemes 
Pacheco de Padilla, Conde de Revil- 
lagigedo, in 1789, did the ancient cap- 
ital begin to assume the metropolitan 
proportions of a civilized city. This 
viceroy paved the streets and lighted 
them, built sewers, established a po- 
lice system, rid the city of foot-pads 
by hanging the captured highway- 
men, and created very many reforms ; 
the old Conde was very vigorous and 
emphatic in his methods and per- 
mitted no delays in the carrying out 
of his orders; the work of improve- 
ment was required to be promptly 
and effectively done and his orders 
were not to be disregarded in the 
slightest particular. 

It is told of the Conde Revilla- 
gigedo that he went about the city 
unattended, day or night, and that 
when he found anything wrong he 
required it righted then and there. 
One night he struck his foot against 
an uneven place in the pavement — he 
sent a messenger for the contractor 
telling that he was wanted, and 



74 

waited there till he came and told him in language forcible, but of Castilian 
politeness, that the pavement must be repaired before morning. At another time 
the Conde was driving through the streets in the early evening and came upon a 
barricade of huts completely shutting off the passage of a street ; he ordered his 
coachman to summon the official in charge of the streets, while he waited there ; 
the officer was ordered to clear the street and have it open so the Conde's carriage 
could pass through as he drove to mass the following morning. It was done, and 
till this day the street from the Alameda to the Plazuela de la Candalaria is 
called Calle de Revillagigedo in honor of the eccentric but practical reformer of 
the olden times. 

The rules and regulations of the modern city are scarcely less stringent, and 
a clean, well-kept city is the result — but a monument to the old Count should 
have a place at every corner in the city as a reminder. 

It is probable that the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, covering about a quarter 
of the territory of the present city, was at the geographical center of the Aztec 
empire and of the territory within the boundaries of Anahuac, but the City of 
Mexico is far from the center of the Mexican Republic. It is, by direct air lines, 
1,500 miles from the extreme northwest boundary, 200 miles from the Gulf, 400 
miles from the Pacific and 600 miles from the boundary of Guatemala on the' 
south, in latitude 19° 26' 5" north and 99° 6' 45" west from Greenwich. 

The city is in the midst of a broad plain completely surrounded by high 
mountains forming the rim of a bowl or basin, from which there is no natural 
outlet for the streams that rise in the hills, hence the accumulation of waters 
that may have, at one time, covered the entire face of the plain, and since 
the establishment of the city great inundations have occurred as in 1552 and 
again in 1629, flooding the streets and drowning thousands of the inhabitants. 
To prevent the recurrence of the floods and consequent disaster the dyke of 
San Lazaro was built in 1552, the great canal, called the Tajo de Nochistongo, 
was commenced in 1607, but neither served the purpose of the drainage of the 
valley and the city is subject to the rise of the waters in the very wet seasons, 
but inundations will be prevented by the great tunnel completed in 1S96, bored 
through the hills of the eastern rim of the bowl. The tunnel is connected with 
the lakes by canals which makes a perfect drainage of the city and of the valley. 

The city is in what is called the Federal District, covering an area of some 
four hundred and fifty square miles — the government of the district like the 
District of Columbia is directed, by the national legislature, administered by the 
Ayuntimiento, or city council, the city and district being presided over by a 
Governor appointed by the President of the Republic. The population of the 
district is in round numbers nearly 600,000, and of the city proper about 400.000. 

The great Lake of Texcoco is eastward of the city, Xochimiico and Chaico 
to the southeast, Zumpango and San Cristobal to the north. It is probable 
that before the filling up by the building of causeways, and the made-lands from 
the grading, both for the old city of Tenochtitlan and the newer Cit}^ of Mexico, 
that these lakes were all one immense body of water, completely surrounding 
the ancient cities. 

The altitude of the City of Mexico, 7,349 feet above the level of the sea at 
Vera Cruz, only 200 miles away, gives it a most delightful climate and a most 
even temperature. The average mean range of thermometer from October to 
April is 56 degrees and from Alay to September 63 degrees; practically the only 
difference between summer and winter is that it never rains in the winter and 
it does almost every day in the summer — but only in showers, and never with 
long periods of rainy weatlicr — and the only cold weather results from a norther 
that blows up from the Gulf and lasts not more than a few hours or a day. 



75 

With the clean, well-kept streets and delightful climate, the Mexican capital is a 
most delightful city whether the sojourn may be in the winter or summer months. 

National Library— Biblioteca Nacional, is located in the old Church of San 
Agustin on the street of San Agustin, three squares south of San Francisco, 
The building is one of the finest in the city and has on two sides a pretty little 
garden surrounded by a high iron railing, the posts of which are surmounted by 
busts of Mexicans of prominence in literature, beginning with Netzahualcoyotl, 
Ixtlilxochitli Tezozomoc, the ancient writers of the country, then Carpio, Tagle, 
Pesado, Navarrete, Gorostiza, Clavijero, Veytia, Alaman, Ramirez, Pena y Peiia, 
Najera, Sigiienza y Gongora, Alzate, Loza, Cardoso and Lafragua. 

Over the main door is a fine image of San Agustin, a remaining decoration 
of the ancient church. The interior is superb in its architecture. Ionic columns 
support the arches of what was the choir and now the vestibule. The nave is 
now the stately library hall, and where the chapels were are now the alcoves 
of bookshelves. Around the walls are statues of Isaiah, Confucius, Valmiki, 
Homer, Plato, Cicero, Virgil, Aristophanes, St. Paul, Origen, Alarcon, Dante, 
Copernicus, Descartes, Humboldt and Cuvier ; above these is a statue of Time 
and the Arms of the Republic. On either side of the entrance are medalion 
portraits, one of President Juarez, who decreed the establishment of the library, 
the other of Don Antonio Martinez de Castro, Minister of Justice, who signed 
the decree. The old chapel of Tercer Orden opening into the main building is 
a storeroom for unclassified books. 

The collection of books made from suppressed monasteries and convents 
comprises nearly 200,000 volumes which, considering the source from which they 
came, are mostly religious works, but a most valuable library is being collected 
that comprises the choice books of the world. 

There are old books and new; books on vellum and parchment; books that 
the British Museum have not, but would like to have. There is an atlas of 
England printed in Amsterdam in 1659, with steel plates and in colors that are 
as bright and fresh as if just off the press. Another volume bears date of 
1472, and another is still older, printed in two colors with a most perfect 
register. There is a Spanish and Mexican dictionary, printed in Mexico in 
1571. There is a book of autographs of notables and soldiers of Cortez. A roll 
of deerskin shows some original dispatches (painted pictures), sent by Monte- 
zuma to his allies, but intercepted by Cortez. There are original manuscripts 
and immense volumes with every old English letter done with a pen. There 
are rare books of all ages and nations, from a Chinese dictionary down to the 
latest works of the day. 

The Library is open daily, feast days excepted, from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m., and 
is free to all. 

Other Libraries— Each department of the government has a library of 
appropriate books, as also the National Museum and the Academy of Fine 
Arts ; the School of Engineering has 8,000 volumes ; the Law School, 16,000 ; 
the Preparatory School, 10,000; and in the old Church of Betlemitas, on Cinco 
de Mayo street, is a free library of 10,000, open daily, except feast days, 9 a. m. 
to 1 p. m., and 3 p. m. to 7 p. m. The National Palace has an extensive library 
composed of the archives of the nation. 

National School of Fine Arts is called also the Academy of San 
Carlos. Drawing and painting was first taught in Mexico in the College of 
San Juan de Letran, founded by Pedro de Gante, although Rodrigo de 
Cifuentes, a painter of some renown, made portraits of Cortez at the time of 
the Conquest. About the year 3 600 came the great Sebastian Arteaga, who has 
been called the founder of art in Mexico. At about this time came Alonzo 



77 



Vasquez, Baltazar Echave and his wife, who was 
called La Sumaya. Among the artists of the next 
century were Andreas Lopez, Herrera, Aguilera, 
Juan Correa, Cabrera, a native Indian of Oaxaca, 
and his pupil, Vallejo; Ibarra, Jose and Luis Rod- 
riguez, Lopez, Saenz, Esquirel, Nicholas Juarez, 
Zendejas and Alcibar, these were the painters ; the 
sculptors were Cora and Patino Instolinque, but 
perhaps the greatest of all these was Francisco 
Eduardo Tresguerras, painter, sculptor and architect, 
who flourished in the latter part of the eighteenth 
and first part of the nineteenth centuries. 

The work of these men are in the churches of 
the land throughout its length and breadth and in 
the Academy of the City of Mexico. 

The school of Fine Arts originated in the school 
of engraving connected with the mint, established 
under a royal order of Charles III, dated March 
15, 1778, under the direction of Don Geronimo Gil, 
the cheif engraver, who opened the school in May 
following. The director of the Mint, Don Fernando 
de Mangino, obtained the consent of the Viceroy 
Mayorga to the establishment of an academy of 
painting, sculpture and architecture. Classes were 
organized November 4, 1781 ; the King being in- 
formed, issued a royal order December 25, 1783, 
licensing the institution under the name of La 
Academia de las Nobles Artes de San Carlos de la 
Nueva Espaha. The Academy was opened with im- 
posing ceremonies on the 4th of April, 1785. 

The first teachers came from Spam, the painter 
Aguirre and Velasquez, painter and architect. In 
September, 1791, the Academy was removed to its 
present quarters in the building formerly occupied 
by the Hospital de Amor de Dios, then came the 
architect Manuel Tolsa and the painter, Rafael 
Jimeno. Tolsa brought with him, as a present from 
Charles III, a fine collection of casts valued at 
nearly $50,000, and under those auspicious circum- 
stances the Academy prospered, interrupted though 
by the wars and revolutions of the times, and was closed from 1810 to 1821. In 
1824 the city council voted a small annuity for the support of the Academy, 
which continued till 1843, when the proceeds of a lottery rendered a more ade- 
quate support and the Academy was formally reopened January 6, 1847. Under 
the Juarez government an annual allowance of $35,000 was made -and in 1868 the 
name was changed to the National School of Fine Arts, when prizes were offered, 
among them one of a pension of $600 per annum for six years. Tuition is free. 

Notable pictures are the "Martyrdom of San Apronianio," "The Holy 
Family" and "The Adoration of Magi," by Echave. "Christ in the Garden," 
by Luis Juarez; "San Agustin," by Antonio Rodriguez; "Justo and the Pastor" 
and "Ivifeof St. Alexis," by Jose Juarez; "Mary and Elizabeth" and "Christ and 
St. Thomas," by Arteaga; "Santa Ana and the Virgin," "The Holy Sepulchre" 
and "The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth," by Echave. "Virgin of the 




11:20 p. M SEPTEMBER 16. 



78 



Apocalypse" is by Cabrera, and there is also a portrait of that artist painted 
by himself. In "The Adoration of the Magi," by Nicolas Juarez, the artist 
has introduced his own portrait, the figure on the left in blue. Among Ibarras 
pictures are "Woman of Samaria" and "Woman Taken in Adultery;" and 
those of Cabrera are his "Virgin of the Apocalypse," "Bernard" and "An- 
selm." There is also a "Crucifixion" by Arteaga; a "Martyrdom of St, Law- 
rence," by Luis Juarez, and a fine "Virgin de la Purisuna," by Aguilera. 

There is a "San Juan de Dios," a "San Rafael," a "San Juan en el De- 
sierto" all by Murillo, also a "San Francisco" and a "San Antonio de Padua' 

that are also attributed to that great 
artist. There is a portrait of 
'Rubens" and a "Christ Torment- 
ed," both by Rubens. There is a 
"Seven Virtues" on wood by 
Leonardo and a "San Sebastian" by 
Van Dyke; a portrait of "Murillo" 
by Velasquez. Among others are 
a "Saint Gregory;" "Santa Cata- 
lina de Sena," "Santa Teresa," and 
a portrait of "Maria Ana of Austria, 
Wife of Philip IV," a "Las Casas" 
and numerous others more or less 
interesting and by various artists. 
The Academy of Fine Arts is on 
the Calle del Amor de Dios, two 
squares east of the Cathedral and 
one square from the National Mu- 
seum. The hours are from 12 noon 
to 2 p. m., daily, and from 9 a. m. 
to 12 m. Sundays and feast days. 
National Mtiseum, or Museo 
Nacional, half a square east of the 
Cathedral and just in rear of the 
National Palace, contains a fine 
collection of antiquities and objects 
of natural history, excellently ar- 
ranged and altogether the most 
interesting place in the capital, The 
collection was formerly a depart- 
ment of the National University 
COLOSSAL HEAD. ^ud whcu that institution was closed 

in 1865 the relics were removed to the present building, which until that time 
was occupied by the Mint. The collection is constantly being added to by 
the reception of relics from all parts of the country — the government ver> 
wisely having decreed an ownership on all antiquities wherever found wuthin 
the boundaries of the Republic, and has caused them to be brought to the 
National Museum until it contains one of the finest and most interesting 
collections in the world. There are many examples of the jprehistoric races 
of the country, idols from their temples and ornaments from the palaces; 
jewels, arms, shields and utensils of the Toltecs and Aztecs, with some of 
their picture writings; there are portraits, parchments and paintings through 
all the years of the country's history from the days of the Conquest. 

The Sacrificial Stone is in shape similar to the calendar stone. The 
carvings indicate very clearly its uses; the basin hollowed in the top 




79 



with the canal leading to a niche on the edge seems to have had the purpose 
of catching the blood of the victim and carrying it away. ^ The figures on 
the rim show the victorious chiefs under Tizoc dragging their victims by the 




INTERIOR MUSEUM, CITY OF MEXICO. 

hair to the place of sacrifice to be offered to the sun. This, stone was found 
near the Cathedral in 1791, and as it was too heavy to handle conveniently, 
was about to be broken up and used for paving stones, but the destroyers' 
work was arrested and a most interesting relic was preserved. 

The Calendar Stone, sometimes called the Stone of the Sun, was 
originally set in the 
walls of the great 
temple of Tenochtit- 
lan, and after the 
destruction of the 
temple was buried in 
the earth for many 
years on the spot 
where the temple 
stood, on the Plaza 
Mayor; it was resur- 
rected and placed in 
the west tower of the 
Cathedral, where it 
remained till 1886, 
when it was removed 
to the Museum, where 
it is preserved. An 
effort by some writ- 
ers, who have spent sacrificial stone. 

little time in research, to discredit the interestmg theory of its use 
ai a calendar, meets with but very little favor, as its drawmgs and divisions 




clearl}^ indicate the calendar idea, which has been carefully and clearly worked 
out till it is apparent to the most casual observer. The critics of the calendar 
have only succeeded in a small way in appearing wise, and to know some- 
thing which for some reason they do not divulge, and prefer to say it was 
not a calendar stone just because somebody else said it was, and yet fail 
to say what its uses were, beyond a hint at sacrificial purposes, although an- 
other stone with more appropriate carvings stands beside it. 

The tradition goes that both the Sacrificial and the Calendar stones were 
taken from the ancient quarries near Coyoacan and dragged over the cause- 
ways on wooden rollers to the walls of the teocali, and that they each broke 
down the bridge of Xoloc, were lost in the lake and a second pair of mono- 
liths were quarried and through the efforts of 5,000 men were safely moved 

over the causeway 
and the renewed and 
strengthened bridge 
in 1478. By order of 
the king Axayacatl, 
the engravings were 
made and by the 
priests they were ded- 
icated through the 
sacrifice of 728 hu- 
man beings. 

The Goddess of 
Water, is a huge 
monolith nearly 11 
feet high, over 5 feet 
across. It weighs 
nearly 40,000 pounds. 
Very much disfigured 
in its carvings, it is 
still nearly perfect in 
form. It came from 
Teotihuacan near the 
Pyramids of the Sun 
and Moon, and is an 
idol of prehistoric 
origin. 

Huitzilopochtli 
was the war god of 
the ancient Mexicans. 
CALENDAR STONE. The very elaborately 

carved idol has two faces dissimilar in feature, and is perhaps two figures, 
one of which has been called Teoyaomiqui, though this latter name does 
not appear in Mexican mythology, and the theory that one part is a god 
and the other a goddess is hardly tenable, though there is repulsiveness 
and ugliness for more than two figures. The idol is nearly ten feet high 
by about three in diameter. 

El Iiidio Triste, the Sad Indian, was found in 1828, in the street 
now called by that name. Why the image was called the Sad Indian does 
not appear, for while the countenance may not be called pretty, it is by no 
means sad. Writers agree that the statue was set upon a wall with a torch or 
standard in each hand, and was more for the purpose of ornamentation thar: 
an object of worship, and was not an idol. On the walls of the Temple of 



:^iii 







.vT-i >-3;r "."ssev 




81 

Huitzilopochtli were Indians of stone with candlesticks in their hands, and 
this may have been one of them, aUhotigh it was dug up (1828) in the street 
that now bears its name, the Calle del Indio Triste. How this piece of sculp- 
ture came by its name tradition does not narrate. 

Two Serpents* Heads of gigantic size were originally in the walls 
of the Temple of Tenochtitlan and were a part of the cohuatepantli or wall of 
serpents. They were discovered by Sefior Garcias Cubas where they had been 
buried beneath the original Cathedral. 

The Feathered Serpent is one of the most curious sculptures of the 
museum; it is coiled and has an unmistakable snake's head; this form of 
serpent is found in smaller examples in the museum. They came from all 
parts of Mexico, in fact have been found in various parts of the continent. 
It is called Quetzal-coatl and represents an ancient myth of Mexico of a 











\' 



' \ 2*"**''^ 



CARVED VASE, NATIONAL MUSEUM. 

white man with a long flowing beard who taught the people religion and civili- 
zation; a religion that the earliest comers to Mexico found very similar to 
Christianity. The legend goes that this mysterious teacher was one of the 
Apostles, St. Thomas, but why he should be represented by a feathered ser- 
pent is not apparent. 

Chac-Mol, the God of Fire, is a recumbent figure in stone, lying upon 
its back, with both hands holding upon the stomach a round disk as an 
emblem of the sun. This particular Chac-Mol was found in Yucatan, other 
and similar figures from other parts of the Republic are in the Museum. There 
are scores of other sculptures brought from all parts of the country about 
which little is known as to their origin and of which history and tradition 
are silent, and which the catalogues can only enumerate. 



82 




A Colossal Head of a human is one of the finest pieces in the Mu- 
seum. It is exquisitel}' carved in diorite; it is three feet high by two feet 
through the neck and about seven feet in circumference. It was found in 

1830 in the street of Santa Teresa in the 
City of Mexico, in excavating for the foun- 
dation of a building and was presented to 
the Museum by the Abbess of the Concep- 
tion. Authorities disagree as to its origin 
or use, though its carvings relate in some 
way to the Aztec calendar. In the front 
of the cap are thirteen shells, that may 
mean the thirteen religious da3"s of the man. 
In the back of the head dress are twenty 
shells and there were twenty days in the 
civil month; these and other carvings 
[correspond in numbers to those on the 
Calendar stone. In the other halls of the 
■Aluseum are many interesting relics pre- 
!historic, and of the age of the Toltecs and 
of the Aztecs, arms and munitions of war, 
darts, javelins, clubs and shields. Among the shields is one of Montezuma's. 
There are also implements and objects of home life, 
jewels, dresses and costumes of the earlier races of 
the country, and some of the famous picture writ- 
ings showing the wanderings of the people. 

Of the later centuries there is the Banner of the 
Conquest, a portrait of the Conqueror Cortez. and 
some of his armor, and the arms carried by the 
soldiers under him, among which is a helmet and 
cuirass worn by the gallant Captain Pedro de Alva- 
rado, and of the post-conquest days there are some 
portraits of the Spanish viceroys. The standard of 
the war for independence, the banner of Our Lady 
of Guadalupe taken by Hidalgo from the little 
Church of Atotonilco, near San Aliguel, in the State 
of Guanajuato, his musket, cane, chair and handker- 
chief are to be seen also — and of the later days the 
coach, chariot of state and silver dinner service of 
the Emperor IMaximilian and the carriage of Presi- 
dent Juarez. These and many other objects of 
interest representing all ages of the country make 
this ]\Iuseum one of the most notable in the world, 
containing as it does so much that is to be found 
in no other, called from times and tribes of a people 
wholly different and distinct and with no link to 
connect them with any other on the face of the 
earth. 

The Motite de Piedad is trie National pawn- 
shop, founded by tiic Conde de Rcgla Don Pedro 
Romero de Terreros, the then owner of the great 
Real del Monte mines, near Pachaca, with an huitzilopochtli. 

endowment of over $300,000; approved by the Crown, June 2, 1774. and 
on the 25th of February, 1776, the doors were opened for business. 
At first no interest was charged on the loans. This was with the 




83 

idea to protect the people from the usurious charges of pawnbrokers 
that have been the same sharks in all ages and countries. It was ex- 
pected that on the redemption of the pledge that the borrower would make 
some gift for charitable purposes, but as his gratitude did not always material- 
ize it was found necessary to charge a nominal rate of interest. So low are 
the charges that it is in reality a boon to the people, and the liberal rules of 
redemption make the business one fair transaction. When the interest on an 
article fails to be paid, it is exposed for sale with a fixed price. At the end of 
a month the price is reduced, and again at the end of the second or third 
month, when it reaches the amount of the original loan and interest, which 
usually effects the sale, but if the article is sold during the first or second 
month the excess over the loan and interest is paid to the borrower — an un- 
heard-of and unprecedented proceeding. The idea of paying a borrower any- 
thing on an unredeemed pledge simply because it sold for more than the loan 
is absurd, and such a ridiculous plan does not exist except in the Monte de 
Piedad of Mexico. 

The institution was established first in old college San Pedro y Pablo, after- 
wards removed to the street of San Juan de Letran and later to the building 
erected especially for it on the street of the Empediadillo, opposite and just 
west of the Cathedral, on the spot where once was one of the palaces of 
Cortez. 

The original capital became very much reduced in 1814 by bad manage- 
ment, but changes in the administration and reforms restored the deficit; 
again in 1884, during the administration of President Gonzalez, the capital 
was again impaired and has never fully recovered, but there is still sufficient 
to do a very large business and the institution remains a practical benevolence. 
Not so much as in the earlier days of its existence,' but there are still to be 
found among the pledges some very good bargains in articles of vertu and 
interesting relics of persons who have seen better days. 

Schools and Colteges— The school system of the City of Mexico is 
fully abreast of the times. So much progress has been, and is being made 
that it is impossible in a work of this kind to give data or statistics. What 
might be written this year would be all wrong next, hence no figures are given 
here. Suffice it to say that information in detail is easily obtained from the 
Department of Justice and Public Instruction. There are many private schools 
and institutions of learning and public schools supported by the National, State 
and Municipal governments, some of the most important of which are noted 
here. 

The Conservatory of Mttsic was established in 1877 .in a building 
erected in 1787 on the site of the first building of the University of Mexico, 
on lands that belonged to the estate of Cortez. There is a fine patio with 
flowers, and surrounded by old cloisters; a splendid concert hall and a fine 
painting by Vallejo. The library and collection of music is very complete. 

The School of Mines, La Mineria, on the Calle de San Andres, 
was founded in 1777 by Don Velazquez dfe Leon and Don Lucas de Lasaga. 
The building is a magnificent one, erected in 1813 at a cost of nearly $200,000. 
There are fine patios, stairways and columned galleries, and is considered one 
of the finest edifices in all Mexico. The decorations are superb, especially in 
the chapel where there is a fine bronze altar, and frescoes by Jimeno. There 
is a fine observatory, library and extensive cabinets of specimens. Under the 
front portal are some immense meteoric stones weighing tons, that have fallen 
at different points in Mexico. ' During his visit to the capital, in 1880, General 
Grant was c^uartered in this magnificent building. 



84 

The School of Medicin© was authorized by a royal decree dated 
March i6, 1768, followed by numerous other decrees down to the final one 
of 1833, and after being located at different points in the city was finally estab- 
lished in 1854 in the builamg formerly occupied by the Inquisition in the 
Plaza of Santo Domingo. The college has a fine theater, lecture-rooms, 
library and apparatus. 

The Preparatory School for advanced students to prepare for the 
colleges was originally an institution of the Jesuits and is still called by 
the old name of the School of Ydelfonso. The present building was completed 
in 1749 at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. The patios are surrounded 
by galleries handsomely decorated. The various halls contain some handsome 
paintings by Vallejo and other noted artists, among which is "The Holy 
Family" and the "Feast of Pentecost." The library, museum and apparatus are 
in keeping with the importance of the institution. 

The School of Agriculture is located just outside the city on the 
Tacuba road, on the hacienda de San Jacinto, and is an important institu- 
tion, with all modern appliances for agricultural education. 

The Colegio de la Paz, called also the College of San Ygnacio 
Loyola, had its corner stone laid in 1734, but was not completed till 1767, 
when the cost w^as estimated to be $2,000,000. The school was originally 
directed by the Biscayan Brotherhood, but upon the banishment of the order 
was taken charge of by the government. It is supported by its endowment 
and an appropriation. There are primary and secondary departments where, 
in addition to the regular branches of education, sewing, embroidery, etc., 
are taught. The original school was founded by three philanthropists through 
pity of the numerous poor children of that part of the city who were without 
schools, and with their own money bought the original site and commenced 
the first building. Their names should be perpetuated. They are Don Jose 
Aldaco, Don Ambrosio Meave and Don Francisco Echeveste. The building 
is one of the most extensive and finest in the city. 

Other Schools — Among tne other schools are the Industrial School 
for Women, Industrial School for Men, School for Deaf Mutes, Industrial 
School for Orphans, School of Correction, School for the Blind, Commer- 
cial College Law School, a Theological Seminary, Schools of the Lancasterian 
Society, Benevolent Society and of the Catholic Society, in which there are 
changes constantly being made, so that detailed information here would in 
a short while be unreliable. 

HOSPITALS. 

Coucepcioti Beistigui is one of the newest hospitals of the city, 
having been founded by Sehorita Concepcion Beistigui and opened j\Iarch 
21, 1886. It was remodeled from the old convent of Regina Coeli, and is one 
of the finest in the city. It is located near the Plaza de Regina, six squares 
south of 2d San Francisco street. 

Hospital del Divitio Salvador is for the care of insane women. 
It had its foundation in the charity of a pious carpenter, Jose Sayago, 
who took the unfortunate creatures he found on the streets and cared for 
them in his own house, till the Archbishop Aguiar y Seijas gave him a larger 
house and suppHed him with money for expenses. After the death of Sayago 
and the archbishop in 1698 the hospital passed to the care of the Jesuits, and 
after the suppression of the order it came under the control of the govern- 
ment, when a liberal appropriation was made and an improved mode of treat- 
ment put in effect. It is located in the Calle de Cahoa, three squares north 
of 1st San Francisco. 



85 



Hospital de Jesus Nazareno was founded by Cortez about the 
year 1590, and was amply provided for in his will, but the administrators mis- 
applied the funds, until the management was undertaken by Don Bernardo 
Alvarez and matters put in proper shape and the provisions of the will firmly 
established, so that all attempts to break it have failed, and it is still supported 
by the endowment made by the conqueror. The hospital is on the Calle de 
Jesus, three squares south of the Plaza Mayor. 

Hospital Municipal Juarez was once a church, a college and a 
barracks. The college of San Pablo was built on the site in 1575, and a church 
in 1581, and remained as important institutions for some two hundred years, 
when they fell into decay and were leased by the government for use as a 
barracks. The first uses as a hospital were in 1847, after the battle of Padierna 
with the Americans near San Angel, on the 19th of August of that year, when 
the wounded soldiers were brought in to this place. Afterward, through the 
good offices of Dr. Jose Urbano Fonseca, it became a municipal hospital, and 
later, with the merging of hospitals of San Hipolito and San Lazaro, became, 
since 1862, the Hospital Municipal 
Juarez, though sometimes called 



by the old name of San Pablo. It 
is located on the Plaza de San 
Pablo, one square east and six 
squares south of the Plaza Mayor. 

Casa de Matemidad was 
founded by an imperial decree of 
the Emperor Maximilian, dated 
June 7, 1865, and opened on the 
anniversary a year later under the 
direction of the Council of Public 
Charities, of which the Empress 
Carlotta was the president, and 
who became so thoroughly inter- 
ested that she sent from Europe 
a complete set of surgical instru- 
ments and a large sum of money 
for the support of the hospital, 
which is located on the Calle 
Revillagigedo, half a square south 
of the Alameda. 

La Cuua, the cradle, is a 
foundling asylum, known also as 




UNSUPPORTED ARCHES. 



La Casa de Sefior San Jose de Nifios Expositos, and was founded by the Arch- 
bishop Lorenzana January 11, 1766, and supported by his private purse and alms 
through his hands even after his return to Spain. The succeeding archbishop, 
Don Nufiez Haro y Peralto, continued the work by organizing a Congregation 
of Charity for the custody and management of the asylum, which received a 
royal approval, and by a decree of the king of Spain dated July 30, 1794, the 
foundlings were declared legitimate and endowed with the rights of citizen- 
ship, and it was further provided that the children should receive the name 
of Lorenzana in honor of the founder of the asylum. The children receive a 
practical education, the boys a manual training and the girls are taught 
sewing, embroidery and music. The asylum is three squares east from the 
south side of the Plaza Mayor. 

Hospital Morelos was originally a foundling asylum, known^ as 
Hospital de la Epifania, to which was attached the Hospicio de Nuestra Sefiora 



86 

de los Desamparados, Our Lady of the Forsaken, and was founded by the good 
Doctor Pedro Lopez in 1582. In 1604 it came under the control of the brothers 
of San Juan de Dios, who built the present fine church and hospital, and who 
administered the charity for more than two hundred years, till the order was 
suppressed in 1820 and the hospital closed, but through the good offices of 
Don Caspar Ceballos it was reopened March 8, 1845, under the name of the 
Hospital Morelos, in honor of the patriot soldier of the war of independence, 
but it is still called also by its old names. It is near the Plaza de Morelos, 
immediately north of the Alameda. 

Hospital de San Andres was originallv a pest-house in use during 
the plague of 1779, though it was a Jesuit foundation of a century earlier. 
After the termination of the plague it was made a general hospital, and under 
the Laws of the Reform became the property of the Ayuntamiento, or city 
government, and so remains to the present time. A department for the free 
treatment of the diseases of the eye is maintained. The hospital is on the 
Calle San Andres, a square and a half east of the Alameda. 

Hospital de San Hipdlito was founded by a retired merchant 
of Peru, a native of Andalusia, Bernardino Alvarez, who took upon himself the 
care of the sick and became a hospital nurse, but, not being satisfied with 
the treatment of the sick, resolved to establish a hospital of his own. A lot 
near the church of San Hipolito was given him, with permission to build his 
hospital, which he did with his own property and contributions made to him, 
and set out to gather patients, not only in the cit3^ but from as far away as 
Vera Cruz he gathered the lame, the halt and the crazed. A brotherhood was 
formed for the carrying on of the good work, which received the sanction of 
the Pope, Cregory XIII; approved, in 1585, May i, by Sixtus V. Under 
a bull of Clement VIII, October 8, 1604, the brothers were ordered to take 
the vows of hospitality and obedience, and in 1700, under a bull of Innocent 
XII, they became a monastic order under the rules of the Agustinians. and all 
the privileges pertaining to that order, and were known as the Hipolitos, the 
Brothers of Charity, which was purely a Mexican order. Under this admin- 
istration the hospital became an insane asylum for males. The present build- 
ing was erected in 1773. The order of Hipolitos was suppressed by the Span- 
ish Cortez in 1820, October i, and the property, amounting to nearly $200,000, 
confiscated, but the brothers, as individuals, remained in charge. The mu- 
nicipality has since had charge. The hospital is on the Calle de San Hipolito, 
one square west of the northwest corner of the Alameda. 

Hospicio de Pobres was founded by Dr. Fernando Ortiz Cortez. 
under a royal order dated July 9, 1765. The asylum for the poor was opened 
March 19, 1774, and so great was the demands of the charity that a few 
years later it was greatly enlarged by Don Francisco Zufiiga. The support 
was derived from an allowance of $i,coo per /'month from the government 
lottery, a most appropriate appropriation, since the lottery is your greatest 
factor in creating paupers. There are different departments for the old and 
young, male and female, with accommodations for a thousand or more. The 
hospicio was on the Avenida Juarez, but has been removed to the Calzada de 
Tlalplam, on the Tlalpam electric line. 

Other Hospitals — The American Hospital was founded in 1886 through 
the good work of the American colony and visiting Americans, and has its 
sole maintenance trcm their charity and contributions from the i)hilanthro- 
pists of our country. 

The English, French. German and Spanish Benevolent Societies look after 
their sick in a charitable manner. 



87 



PUBLIC AND NOTABLE BUILDINGS. 



The National Palace, Palacio Nacional, on the east side of the Plaza 

Mayor, is the Capitol of the RepubHc of Mexico, as it was the Vice-regal palace 
when the country was a province of Spain, and before that period was the site 
of a palace of Cortez, and was the property of the Conqueror; the land 
fell to his share when the city lots of Tenochtitlan were divided among the 
Spaniards. At that time the site was occupied by what was known as "the 
new palace" of Montezuma, which, being destroyed, Cortez built in its place, a 
house flanked with towers. The estate was confirmed by the king to Cortez 
in 1529 and remained in the possession of his heirs till 1562, when it was 
bought by the crown for the residence of the Viceroy, and remained as the 
vice-regal residence until 1692, when the house was destroyed in the riots 
of that year. 

The present building was begun in 1692, and from time to time has 
been added to until it extends over the entire east side of the Plaza Mayor, 
having a frontage of 675 feet, extending down the 
side streets proportionately, the whole surround- 
ing an immense patio or court, with accommoda- 
tions for the various departments of the Federal 
Government, the Executive offices. Senate 
Chamber, Treasury, and barrack room for sev- 
eral regiments. The Presidential apartments are 
in accord with the high office and the dignity of 
ihe government, magnificently appointed and 
splendidly decorated — it is not the Presidential 
residence, only the offices of the President and of 
the Government. The most noted room is the 
Hall of the Ambassadors, an apartment of regal 
dimensions and adornment. It extends its elegant, 
proportions along the palace front, the immense 
windows looking out upon the Plaza. The walls 
are hung with portraits of the illustrious men of 
the country's history, including the martyrs of the 
War of Independence, Hidalgo, Allende, Morelos, 
Matamoros and others; Yturbide, and Presidents 
Arista, Juarez and Porfirio Diaz; there is also a 
fine portrait of George Washington. Other 
paintings are an allegorical representation of the 
Constitution and the battle of the 5th of May, 
respectively by Monroy and Miranda, Mexican MEXICO'S liberty bell. 

artists of high repute. On the i6th of September, 1896, there was placed 
over the main gateway of the palace the bell from the tower of the church of 
Dolores, in the State of Guanajuato, near San Miguel de Allende, rung by 
Hidalgo incidentally to call the people to mass, but in reality to call them to 
arms for the cause of Independence; hence became the Liberty Bell of Mexico. 

In the old tower of the little church at Dolores, nearly a hundred years 
ago on that September night when the stars shone bright, rang out the 
clear tones of a bell. The people listened and wondered at its ringing at 
such an hour, but well knew that it rang not except upon the order of 
the faithful padre, the good Father Hidalgo, and came from their homes 
quickly to answer the summons and hear what he might say. Assembled 
there under the dim light of the flickering candles of the altar, the patriot priest 




88 

told his people that the hour of independence was at hand and that they 
should follow him and march then to do battle for their country and against 
the Spanish king. The march was announced at the hour, with the banner 
of Guadalupe taken from the little church of Atotonilco as their standard the 
people followed Hidalgo, they knew not where, they only followed Hidalgo, 
and thus was born the bell of liberty in Mexico. 

Long ago the banner of Guadalupe of Atotonilco was placed in the Na- 
tional Museum of the capital of the Republic, but the Liberty Bell of Mexico 
was but yesterday placed above the gates of the National Palace, and on 
the night of the i6th of September of 1896 rang out again as it did in 
that night of 1810 for liberty and independence. 

It is in history that the hour when this bell first rang, except for mass 
or matin, was at eleven o'clock, and forty minutes of the night between the 
15th and i6th September, 1810, then Hidalgo rang it in the call to arms and 
liberty, and when the people answering, assembled under the darkening shad- 
ows of its tower he pronounced the Grito of Mexican independence. 

It has long been the custom of the President of Mexico to go upon the 
balcony over the main gateway of the National Palace at the hour and there 
pronounce again the Grito as Hidalgo said, and now he may ring the bell 
that Hidalgo rang and all the people shout their vivas now, as did the little 
band of patriots in 1810. 

The bell had remained in the towers of the church at Dolores since Hidalgo 
rang it on that eventful night, but on Independence Day of 1896 it was brought 
to the capital, and on the i6th of September, with all the pomp and circum- 
stance of state, was carried in grand procession and placed over the palace 
gate. The triumphal car bearing the bell, the central figure of a glittering 
pageant, rolled on golden wheels, whose spokes were trimmed with flowers. 
An eagle with outspread wings on the front of the car seemed to fly before 
the precious relic as if to lead the way. In the shadow of the eagle's wings 
rested an old brass cannon, cast by Hidalgo, on which is inscribed, "Para 
defender la Fe y la Pureza de Maria Santisima" — For the defense of the Faith 
and the Purity of Holy Mary. The bell and the cannon were surrounded by 
trophies of the war of independence, muskets, swords, cannon, sponges, picks 
and pikes; the entire group surmounted with a wreath of laurel and oak, 
ending in a background of tropic trees, entwined with the colors of Mexico. 

The car was drawn by six magnificent horses, mounted by postilions and 
guarded by an escort of rurales; the grand procession following was com- 
posed of the dignitaries of state, civic and military, the army and the people. 
The lookers-on in Mexico were massed to the walls on the sidewalks, every 
window and balcony was filled and so were the housetops, from whence came 
showers of flowers and serpentines in green, white and red, and the vivas 
drowned the music of the band, as the people cheered the grand old bell 
on its progress to the home of the nation. 

When the car arrived on the Plaza in front of the Palace, the bell was 
removed and hoisted over the central gate, in the faqade of the Palace, and 
as it reached its final resting-place a thousand doves with tricolor bands about 
their necks rose up from the archway, circled around and flew away to the 
four quarters, carrying the glad news. 

The President and his Cabinet watched the hoisting of the bell from a 
pavilion, and when the work was completed it was formally received from the 
commission that had brought it from Dolores Hidalgo. The patriotic speeches 
of presentation and reception were received with wild applause and the cere- 
mony continued till the evening. 

All day long the crowds had not left the Plaza, only thinned out a Httk 



89 

now and then, and when night came it was packed again until the hour of 
eleven drew on and there was a solid mass of humanity within the walls of 
the great square. 

At 11:35 President Diaz came from the Hall of the Ambassadors to the 
balcony where, till now, he had only pronoimced the Grito, took the rope in 
his hand, a silence fell on the multitude till the hands of the clock crawled to 
forty minutes past, and he gave the bell four lusty strokes, and a mighty shout 
went up and re-echoed to the surrounding hills; then rang all the bells in 
every tower, A star of electric fire surrounded the bell and cascades of colored 
fires poured down from the Cathedral towers and the Palace walls, bands 
played and people shouted, and almost wept from patriotic joy — the inde- 
scribable scene may not be written in the words of any language, great was the 
boon of him who saw the dedication of Mexico's Liberty Bell. 

The Casa de Moneda, the Mint, on the Calle Apartado, six squares 
north of the cathedral, was one of three established by the Spanish Government 
in 1535, the other two at Potosi, in Bolivia, and at Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
At first there was only an assay office from which ingots and bars bearing the 
official stamp were issued and were current as money. 

The present building was completed in 1734 at a cost of something over 
half a million dollars. The increasing output of gold and silver of Mexico 
caused the establishment of mints in other cities, notably at Zacatecas, Guana- 
juato, Guadalajara, but the mint of Mexico is the principal one, the coinage 
having reached the enormous sums of over $100,000,000 gold and nearly $3,000,- 
000,000 in silver. Coins of the Spanish king, of the Republic and of the Empire 
under Maximilian have been issued from this mint. 

The Post Office is on the corner of Calles San Andres and San Juan de 
Letran, one block north of San Francisco street at the Plazuela Guuardiola. 

Aduatia) the Custom House, occupies the Plaza and ancient church of 
Santiago Tlaltelolco, in the northwest quarter of the city. 

Camara de Diputados, the Chamber of Deputies, or House of Rep- 
resentatives, is in the Yturbide Theater, four squares north of San Francisco 
street from the corner of Vergara, the original hall in the National Palace 
having been destroyed by fire in 1872. The theater has been remodeled and 
adapted to legislative uses. 

Arzobispado, or the Palace of the Archbishop, on the corner of Calle 
Arzobispado and Seminario, was established in 1530 by the first Archbishop of 
Mexico, Juan Zumarraga, and decreed by Charles V. in 1533 to be the home 
of the Archbishops forever, but the Republic of Mexico decreed otherwise and 
in 1861 declared it to be the property of the State, and is now occupied by 
various governmental offices. 

The Palace of Yturbide, so called from its occupancy by the 
Emperor Yturbide I. during his brief reign, now occupied (since 1855) as a 
hotel, on ist San Francisco street, was built by the Marquesa de San Mateo 
Valparaiso during the eighteenth century on lands that formerly belonged to 
the Convent of Santa Brigida. 

The House of Tiles, on ist San Francisco street, is one of the 
curiosities of the city. It was built by the Conde del Valle de Orizaba early 
in the eighteenth century, now occupied by the Jockey Club. It is a mag- 
nificent house, with its walls completely covered with tiles. There is a Spanish 
proverb applied to a spendthrift, "He will never build a house of tiles," that 
the building of this beautiful house would seem to completely controvert. 

Near by, fronting on the Plazuela de Guardiola, is the splendid residence 
af the family Escandon. The house of Bazaine, on the Puente de Alvarado, 



90 

noticeable from its recessed front, was occupied during the reign of Maximilian 
by his perfidious minister, the Marshal Bazaine. 

On the Tacuba road, near the Garita de San Cosme, is the house of the 
Masks, la casa de los niascarones, so called because of the stone masks 
which adorn its walls. This curious house was designed and partly built by 
the Conde del Valle de Orizaba, in the year 1771, who died after having spent 
$100,000 on it, and left behind him this most unique architectural monument. 

The City Hall, Palacio del Ayuiitittiietito, is on the southeastern side 
of the Plaza ]\Iayor, on a site set apart by Cortez for the municipal palace, 
and has been since so occupied. The present house was finished in 1722. The 
lower floor is occupied by the fine dry goods stores of the city, in front of 
which are the finest portales in the city. 




THE HOUSE OF TILES, SAN FRANCISCO STREET. 

There are many notable houses in various parts of the city, whose walls 
could tell tales of history and romance if they had ears to hear them in the 
centuries gone by. Among them the house of the Condes de Santiago, just 
beyond the Calle de Parque del Conde, so-called from the park that origi- 
nally surrounded the magnificent house with its carved doors and miniature 
cannon used as water-spouts. The patio is large and of exquisite propor- 
tions. The lower part of the house is occupied by stores and shops. On 
3rd Calle de San Augustin is the house occupied by Humboldt, the great 
German traveler, in 1803. A tablet recording this fact was set in the walls 
on the looth anniversary of his birth, September 14th, 1869. 



91 

PLAZAS, PARKS, PASEOS AND PANTEONS. 

Plaza Mayor, the main plaza, or to be explicit, the Plaza Mayor de la 
Coiistitucion, is in the city's center, where stood the great teocali, the temple 
of the Atzecs, and where stands the Cathedral, and facing it the National 
Palace. When the Aztec temples were destroyed and the city being built, 
an open space was left here that soon became a market place and filled with 
shops and booths. These were destroyed by lire, after the royal order of 
January i8, 1611, creating the space a public plaza, only to be rebuilt and 
subsequently destroyed in a riot in 1692, the fire destroying the building of 
the Ayuntamiento, City Council, and injuring the palace, with a loss of valu- 
able records, a portion only being saved through the efiforts of Don Carlos 
de Siguenza y Gongora, the custodian.^ 

Afterward an elegant stone building, called the Parian, was erected by the 
municipality, and was rented to merchants of a high class, who brought here 
their wares, and it became the bazaar of fine trade, but the fruit sellers and 
vegetable venders surrounded it with their huts again and remained for 
many years. 

The coming of the Conde de Revillagigedo, the viceroy, in 1789, marked 
the beginning of the present plaza. The hucksters and peddlers were driven 
off to the Volador market, the open ditches were covered into sewers, the 
panteons removed or obliterated, and in 1830 the foundation was laid in the 
plaza for the equestrian statue of Charles IV, that was afterward removed 
and which now stands at the entrance of the Paseo de la Reforma. The 
Parian was looted during the revolution of 1828, and later, in 1843, the build- 
ing torn down and the site included in the plaza. 

In the center of, the plaza is the Garden of the Zocalo. which derives its name 
from the zocalo, or foundation, for a monument that was never built, a monu- 
ment to Mexican independence. From this the plaza is often called the Zo- 
calo. A music stand is built on the foundation, and a military band plays 
here evenings and Sundays for the middle and poorer classes. 

On two sides of the Plaza Mayor are the portales, an extension of the 
buildings over the sidewalks that are supported by columns with arches be- 
tween, under which are some of the finest stores in the city. On the east side 
the National Palace extends almost its entire length; on the north the great 
Cathedral, with its towers, flanked on one side by the flower market and 
on the other by the Plaza del Seminario, which is only a part of the main 
plaza. Here is a monument to Enrico Martinez, the noted engineer of his 
day, who was responsible for the Nochistongo canal, for the drainage of 
the city. Bronze figures, inlaid in a marble shaft, show standards of measure- 
ment and the level of the lakes at different times. 

From the Plaza Mayor street cars for all parts of the city and the sub- 
urbs start, and the passenger remaining in the car will be brought here again 
on the return trip; and here are fired the salutes, and the troops reviewed 
on national days, the i6th of September, 5th of May, 2d of April and other 
days of national celebration. 

La Alameda is the park of the better classes, and is so called from 
the fact that it was first planted with alamos, or poplars. Every city, town 
and village has an alameda, but this is the alameda of Mexico. 

In 1592 a petition was made to the city council to set apart certain ground 
for a park of recreation, and the old Indian market, the Tianquis del San 
Hipolito, located on a part of the present Alameda, was selected, and a little 
later the Plaza del Quemadero, the place of the stone altar on which the 



92 



The Paseo 

commencing at 



victims of the Inquisition were burned, was added. The Quemadero was 
removed by order of the Viceroy Marquis de Croix, and the Alameda at- 
tained its present size and shape. By his order to remove the Quemadero 
the Viceroy incurred the displeasure of the bigots of the church, and this 
same Quemadero came near being his own funeral pyre. 

The Viceroy Revillagigedo, famous for his energetic reforms and muni- 
cipal improvements, inclosed the Alameda with a high board fence in 1791, 
which was replaced in 1822 by the stone wall that had done duty on the 
Plaza Mayor in inclosing the unfortunate statue of Charles IV. A trench 
was outside the wall of the Alameda, but these were all obliterated in 1885. 
The Alameda is the resort of the fashionables, and here they most do congre- 
gate Sundays and feast days to enjoy the music of the military bands. The 
beautiful trees, the flowers and the fountains make the Alameda a most 
beautiful park. 

de la Refortna extends from the city to Chapultepec, 
the glorieta of the statue of Charles IV, running in a direct 
line to the gates of the park at the foot 
of the Hill of the Grasshopper. It is a 
broad, smooth, and very beautiful boule- 
vard, shaded by splendid trees, as are the 
wide walk-ways on each side; along the 
curb and between the promenades, at cer- 
tain intervals, are erected statues to the 
illustrious men of Mexico, presented by 
the various States of the Republic; mas- 
sive stone seats are along the promenade 
under the trees. The Paseo widens into 
circles, here and there, called glorietas^ 
in the center of which are splendid 
statues, one of Columbus and one 
of Cuautemoc, the Aztec warrior, 
nephew and successor of Monte- 
zuma. Other statues are to be 
erected in all the six glorietas. In 
the glorieta at the entrance of the 
Paseo is the statue of Charles IV 
of Spain. The Aztec stat- 
ues shown here have been 
removed to the Paseo de 
La Viga. The Paseo 
^' was established during . . 

the empire of Maximilian, and became at once the fashionable drive of the 
Mexican capital, and a more beautiful one does not exist in Europe or Amer- 
ica. Here in the late afternoon of every day, greatly increased in brilliancy 
on Sundays and feast days, is a magnificent display of carriages and equipages 
of every style, and a more splendid review does not exist anywhere. The 
fine array passes up one side and down the other, a cordon of cavalrymen 
in the center keeping the procession in line, and adding to the brilliancy of 
the scene. There are other paseos in the city, but the Paseo de la Reforma 
is the paseo. 

Paseo de Bucareli is sometimes called Paseo Nuevo, the new paseo, 
although it was opened in 1778, and is now little used as a paseo. This paseo 
was named for the Viceroy Bucareli, during whose reign it was established, 
and starts from the statue of Charles IV. In one of the glorietas is 





93 

a fountain and a statue of Victory, erected in 1829 in honor of President 
Guerrero. 

Paseo de la Viga runs along the bank of the famous canal of that 
name, and is a very attractive drive, especially during the fiestas of the In- 
dians, and still more especially on Holy Thursday and on the day of the 
Feast of the Flowers, 'ihe drive is to be taken for the novelty rather than 
the good road. About midway of the paseo is a bust of Cuautimotzin, the 
last of his line, and the last of the Aztec kings. 

Calzadas, or causeways, connected the city of Tenochtitlan with the 
mainland. They were narrow roadways built by the Aztecs and improved 
by the Spaniards, and in later days became streets, as the waters were filled 
and houses built on the made land. 

The causeway of Tlacopan is now the Tacuba road. It was the shortest 
to the mainland, and was improved from a narrow foot-path to a wide road- 
way as a means of retreat, as they found necessary, on the night of the ist 
of July, 1521, the Noche Triste, and the tree under which Cortez sat down 
and wept over his defeat on that dismal night is preserved to a healthy old 
age. Part of this causeway is called the Puente de Alvarado, from the leap 
of the Spanish captain over one of the cuts made by the Aztecs on that fate- 
ful night. The spot is behind a low wall surmounted by an iron railing, west of 
San Hipolito. 

The second of the three causeways from the city to the mainland leads 
southward toward San Antonio Abad, with branches to Coyoacan and Ixta- 
palapan. Over the latter came Cortez on his first entry into the city of 
Tenochtitlan, and met Montezuma in the suburb of Huitzillan, near the cor- 
ner of the Calle del Paja and Jesus and the Hospital de Jesus. This causeway 
was an important thoroughfare in the Aztec times, and was widened by the 
Spaniards in 1605. 

There were two causeways leading northward to the mainland between 
the city and the hill of Guadalupe, called in the old days Tepeyac, and later 
Tepeyacac, commencing in the city near Santiago Tlaltelolco. The eastern 
of the two causeways was almost destroyed by the inundation of 1604, but 
afterward repaired by Fray Juan de Torquemada. The other causeway is of 
more recent date, having been built in 1675-76. Formerly it was ornamented 
with glorietas like those on the Paseo, and had fifteen beautifully sculptured 
shrines erected at regular intervals, where pilgrims to Guadalupe stopped to 
pray. Some of the shrines are still standing, but alas, to what base uses have 
we come — this causeway is used for the roadway of the Vera Cruz Railway, 
and the other is the route of street cars to Guadalupe. 

Aqueducts for the city's water supply were commenced to be built 
more than two centuries ago, but their usefulness has passed and they have 
given way to the more prosaic iron pipes, and the ancient waterways have 
been torn down and the material used for street repairs. There were two 
aqueducts bringing water to the southern part of the city, one from a spring 
near the Desierto, about twenty miles distant. This aqueduct formerly came 
to the center of the city, passing by the west side of the Alameda, where it 
served as a position of advantage for those wishing to see the burning of 
the victims of the Inquisition. It now ends in San Cosme. Formerly there 
were nearly a thousand arches of stone and brick, but the whole work cost 
less than $200,000. The building covered a period from 1603 to 1620. 

The other aqueduct brought the water from the spring in the park af 
Chapultepec, ending in the beautiful fountain called El Salto del Agua, which 
is still preserved, and the remaining arches may be seen from the street 
cars of the Tacubaya line. At certain intervals are some beautiful shrines 



94 

artistically sculptured. An inscription on the fountain of El Salto del Agua 
says that this aqueduct was completed March 20, 1779, during tne viceroyalty 
of Bucareli, and that it was built on the line of an ancient aqueduct of the 
Aztecs, built in the time of the Emperor (Jhmialpopoca, who obtained the 
right to take the water of Chapultepec from the king of Atzcapatzalco. to 
whom the Aztecs owed allegiance until their independence, in the time of 
Itzcohuatl, in 1422 to 1433. 

The more modern iron pipe brings water from the springs near Guadalupe 
to the northern portion of the city. The aguador still does business, carrying 
water from the fountains to residences. The water coming from the springs 
is exceptionally pure, as it comes from the hills, and there is no contamina- 
tion by contact with sewerage. 




SHRINE IN THE OLD AQUEDUCT. 

Motiumetits and Statues — 1 he statue of Charles IV of Spain is the 
most notable of the many in the city, is of heroic dimensions, being the 
largest single piece of bronze in the world. It is located at the entrance of 
the Paseo de la Reforma. but was originally in the PMaza Mayor, opposite 
the National Palace, where before the casting, a wooden model of the statue, 
gilded, was placed on the pedestal pending the molding of the bronze work. 
A royal order by the king of Spain was made November 30, 1795, permit- 
ting the building of the statue. The ca.'^t was made August 4. 1802. at six 
o'clock in the morning, after two days had been spent in melting the bronze, 
under the direction of Don Salvador dc la Vega, from the model of Don 
Manuel Tolsa, the work being done under the administration of the Viceroy 
Branciforte. paid for by the city and private contributions. The statue was 
not completed until 1803, when it was unveiled with great ceremony on the 
9th of December of that year. 



95 



The statue remained in the Plaza Mayor until 1822, when the feeling against 
the Spaniards became so biiter that its destruction was threatened, and a 
great wooden globe was constructed about it and painted blue to protect 
it from patriotic missiles thrown by the now independent Mexicans. But 
the blue globe was not thought to be a complete safeguard, and the statue 

was removed to the patio of the uni- 
versity, where it remained until 1852, 
when the animosity against Spain had 
in a measure subsided, and the great 
bronze horse and his royal rider was 
placed in its present position. The 
height of horse and rider is fifteen 
feet nine inches, and weighs 60,000 
pounds. 

The Statue of Columbus, in a glo- 
rieta of the Paseo de la Reforma, was 
the first to be erected to his memory 
on the continent he discovered, a 
beautiful work of Cordier's, placed 
here through the generosity of Don 
Antonio Escandon. The base is of 
basaltic stone, supporting an iron 
balustrade, with lamps at each cor- 
ner ; resting on this is a massive block 
of red marble ; is ornamented on its 
four sides in exquisite sculpture ; the 
arms of Columbus in garlands of lau- 
rel ; the rebuilding of the monastery 
of La Rabida ; the discovery of the 
island of San Salvador; a fragment 
of a letter of Columbus to Sauris, and 
the dedication by Senor Escandon. 
Above this are life-sized figures in 
bronze of Pedro de Gante, Diego De- 
hesa, confessor to Ferdinand of 
Spain, Las Casas and Marchena of 
Santa Maria de la Rabida. Sur- 
mounting the whole is the statue of 
Columbus drawing the veil that hides 
the new world. 

Guatimotzin, or Cuauhtemoc, the 
.nephew of Montezuma, and last of 
his line, the last Aztec king, has a 
monument in the next glorieta be- 
"^^^Myond that of Columbus, greatly ven- 
'erated by the Indians, who hold fes- 
r 1 • i-r T-1 . tivals in his honor on the great dates 

of his life. _ The monument is a very beautiful one of bronze, the work of 
Don Francisco Jimenez. On the four sides of tne base are wrought in 
bronze scenes from the life of the great warrior and his torture by Cortez 
in placing his feet m fire to compel the divulgence of the hiding place of 
the Aztec treasure. A bust of Cuauhtemoc is in the Paseo de la Viga erected 




STATUE OF CUAUKTEMOC. 



96 

August 13, 1869, the anniversary of his capture by Cortez and final conquest 
of the empire. 

Near the entrance of Paseo de la Reforma is the statue in heroic size of 
Charles IV. of Spain, and at regular intervals on each side of the grand 
boulevard are statues of the men illustrious in Mexican history. 

The Juarez monument, in the Panteon de San Fernando, the work of the 
Islas brothers, is one of the most beautiful pieces of sculpture in the world. 
Within a Grecian temple lies the dead president, his head supported by figurative 
Mexico in white marble. 

Morelos, the soldier priest, has a monument that was unveiled by Maximilian 
on September 30, 1865, the hundredth anniversary of the hero's birth. It is in 
the Plazuela de Morelos, between the churches of San Juan de Dios and Santa 
Vera Cruz, and in the Plaza of San Fernando is a bronze statue of Guerrero, 
by Norefia. 

In the Plaza de Santo Domingo is a monument to Seiiora Dona Josefa 
Dominguez, the heroine of Mexican Independence. Under the portales are the 
"evangelistas," who write letters for those unable to do so ; the little desks 
have been there a century or more. 

CATHEDR4L AND CHURCHES, 

"It was a marvelous time of original and beautiful work that covered 
Mexico with churches, and set up in all the remote and almost inaccessible 
villages towers and domes that match the best work in Italy, and recall the 
triumphs of Moorish art," writes that ardent student of Mexico, Mr. Charles 
Dudley Warner. "The beauty and originality is wholly in the exterior. While 
nearly all the towers, domes, facades, and outside walls are original in form 
and color and decorations and have a special charm, the interiors are strik- 
ingly alike and generally commonplace. This uniformity is the more remarka- 
ble in a people that build their interior domestic courts and decorate them 
with so much variety. It should be said, however, that some of the interiors 
of the churches were very rich in silver and gold decorations prior to the 
sequestration of church property." 

"Except in the general form of these churches, there is nowhere any repe- 
tition of design. The artists seemed to have had free play to express their 
love of beauty in towers, domes and fagades. Nothing is commonplace ; noth- 
ing is vulgar. Towers and domes, anyone of which I should like to see in 
the United States, are common in the republic ; but it seemed to me that in 
this part of ■Mexico they expressed a feeling not common elsewhere — not 
Italian (which one encounters in so many lovely cloisters and towers), nor 
yet exactly Spanish, but rather, I should say, Saracenic. At least this was 
the impression strongly made upon me. The domes always reminded me 
of the tombs of sheiks, of the califs, and so on, as one sees them in all 
Moslem lands, and the slender towers recaHed the graceful minarets. These 
two forms in combination, so constant and so varied, suggested always the 
Saracenic spirit in the artist. It may be only a fancy, but it is not unrea- 
sonable to believe that the Spanish architect who designed them was strongly 
influenced in his work by the Saracenic forms with which he was so familiar 
three centuries ago. There is another fancy about the fagades of many of 
the best old Mexican churches which I may have mentioned before. It is a 
peculiarity which one sees in many village churches, and even in the City of 
Mexico, and in such suburban towns as Coyoacan and Tacubaya. While the 
churches were evidently designed by Spanish architects, the workers who 
executed the fagades were evidently Indians :- and in the strange stone-work 




CATHEDRAL— CITY OF MFXICO 



98 

designs, unlike any otlier architectural decoration that I know, and very diffi- 
cult for us to interpret or enter into the spirit of — we have the Indian tradi- 
tions of a prehistoric art and ornamentation. Much of this work, untrans- 
latable into our terms, has more in common with the carving on the pre- 
historic temples than with that on any Christian edifices. The subject is one, 
however, that a layman is incompetent to deal with. It is much to be de- 
sired that trained artists should study and describe the old churches of Mex- 
ico. Many of them, like the noble edifice of Churubusco, with its interior 
wealth of old Spanish tiles, are already going to ruin. 

"The fascination in pursuing the study of the towers and domes is that 
there are no two alike. There was no slavish copying from book designs. 
The style is the same, but each architect followed his own genius in con- 
structing an object of beauty. The edifices are not always simple; the roof 
masses are bold and grand, often ; and there is an effect of solidity, of gran- 
deur, with all the airy grace of form, and the satisfaction of the eye with 
color. There is a touch of decay nearly everywhere, a crumbling and a de- 
facement of colors, which add somewhat of pathos to the old structures ; but 
in nearly ev^ry one there is some unexpected fancy — a belfry oddly placed, 
a figure that surprises with its quaintness or its position, or a rich bit of 
deep stone carving, and in the humblest and plainest fagade there is a note 
of individual yielding to a whim of expression that is very fascinating. The 
architects escaped from the commonplace and the conventional ; they under- 
stood proportion without regularity, and the result is not, perhaps, explain- 
able to those who are only accustomed to our church architecture. But most 
of ours, good as it occasionally may be, is uninteresting ; whereas you love 
this, in all its shabbiness of age, and do not care to give a reason why." 

The Cathedral — On the very foundations of the greatest pagan temple of 
the continent is erected the most ambitious house of the Christian Church in 
the western world — the Cathedral The Holy Metropolitan Church of Mexico 
is built on the site of the great teocall of the Aztecs. 

The bishopric of Mexico was established in 1527 by Pope Clement VII, 
and on the 12th of December of that year Fray Juan de Zumarraga, at the 
instance of Charles V of Spain, was made Bishop, but it was not imtil a year 
later that he arrived in the City cf Mexico, and on the 2d of September, 1530, 
was confirmed as bishop-elect and protector of the Indians. 

The archbishopric of Mexico was created by Pope Paul II on the olst of 
January, 1545, with Bishop Zumarraga as archbishop. 

When the Aztec temples that were in the center of the City of Tenoch- 
titlan were destroyed by the Spaniards in 1521, the space was set apart for 
the building of a Christian church, as before the walls of the teocali were 
razed to the ground the sign of the cross and the image of the Virgin was 
shown above the pagan altars, and at the throwing down of the heathen 
gods and idols, as a consecration of the. ground, and when the ruins had 
been cleared away, the first church in the City of Mexico, the little church 
of the Asuncion de Maria Santisima, was built where the temple stood. 

This church, finished about three years after the conquest, was replaced 
soon after by the first cathedral, and was preserved until the larger one 
could be built. It stood in the open court in front of the present cathedral, 
the first stone of which was laid just beyond the north wall in 1573. 

The corner-stone of the present cathedral was laid in 1573; the founda- 
tions were completed in K>15, and the walls were well under way; the roof 
over the sacristy was finished in 1623, the first service held in 1626. The 
great inundation of 1629-35 greatly hindered the work, so that the dedica- 
tion did not take place till 1656, February 2, and even then the building was 



99 



still incomplete, and it was not until eleven years later, on the 2d of Feb- 
ruary, 1667, that the final dedication occurred. 

Ihe towers were completed in 1791, and the bells placed in position in 
1792. The cost of the towers was nearly $200,000, and the great bell called 
Santa Maria de Guadalupe, twenty feet from the top fastenings to the tongue, 
cost $10,000. The larger bell, in the other tower, called Doiia Maria, cost 
nearly as much. The estimated cost of the Cathedral, from the laying of 
the corner-stone to the hanging of the bells, is put at $2,000,000 — but that 
does not represent a tithe of the actual cost if the labor had a fair value put 
upon it, and the material had been bought at market prices. From north to south 
the building is over 400 feet in length, the interior measuring 387 feet. From 
west to east the interior width is 177 feet, the height from roof to the tiles 
of the floor is 179 feet. The towers are 203 feet 6 inches high. The material 
of the walls and towers is stone, the roof is in arches of brick and cement. 
The front is to the south, the facade richly carved and with rr-jT^-^^j 
friezes, statues, etc., in white marble between the two great y* ^^ "' ^ ^* 
towers, with their bell-shaped caps and crosses in stone, make /' \ \ 

it one of the handsomest in the world. On the cornices are 
statues of saints and great men of the church and religious 
orders. In the center of the fagade is the clock, and below it 
the arms of the republic. Surmounting the whole is the mag- 
nificent dome and lantern of graceful proportions, by the 
architect Tolsa. The entire cathedral was from the architec- 
tural plans of Alonzo Perez Castafieda. The immensity of 
the great church is apparent immediately upon the entrance. 
It is Gothic and Doric, with a cold simplicity. Twenty mas- 
sive fluted columns of stone separate the nave from the aisles 
and support the vaulted roof, that under the lofty dome is 
shaped in the form of a Latin cross. The dome is handsomely 
painted in pictures of sacred history, among which is the 
Assumption of the Virgin. There are fourteen chapels in the 
cathedral, seven in each aisle, dedicated to the various saints, 
each decorated in its own particular style with pictures of 
scenes from the lives of the respective saints. These chapels 
were formerly inclosed with handsomely carved wood railings. 
Now they are behind iron gratings, where there are constantly 
burning candles and tapers in front of the images of the 
saints. The most noted of the chapels is that of San Felipe 
de Jesus, where are preserved some relics of this saint, and 
in front of which is the font in which he was baptized. In 
this chapel rest the remains of the first emperor of Mexico, 
Agustin Yturbide, beneath a monument erected to the honored 
memory of "The Liberator." 

Another chapel is that of Las Rellquias, containing pictures 
by Herrera of the holy martyrs. In another, that of San 
Pedro, lies buried the first bishop and archbishop of Mexico, 
Juan de Zumarraga, and also the remains of Gregorio Lopez, 
the Mexican Man with an Iron Mask, supposed to have been 
a son of Philip the Second of Spain. 

The choir is enclosed within a high railing of richly carved 
woods, and in the center of this enclosed space is a large 
octagonal stand of highly polished dark wood for the music 




100 

books, that have their notes so large that they can be read from the seats 
around the raihng. Two immense organs, also in carved wood, rise almost 
to the arches of the roof. From the choir, leading up the nave, is a passage- 
way to an altar, inclosed between railings of tumbago, a metal composed of 
gold, silver and copper. In the rear of the choir is the Altar of Pardon (del 
Perdon), where at any time may be seen the devotees kneeling in crow^ds 
about the base of the altar. Here are two fine paintings, one by the great 
woman artist, La Sumaya, a San Sabastian, and a Candalaria, by Echave. 

The main altar, erected in 1850, was designed by Lorenzo Hidalgo, and 
cost a fortune in its ornamentations, gilding and carving. The fine altar of 
the Kings (de los Reyes) is the most imposing in the building, of magnificent 
proportions. Its top reaches to the arches of the roof. The altar was by 
the artist who made the Altar de Los Reyes in the Cathedral of Seville in 
Spain. The rich carvings and gildings are the especial admiration of the 
Indians. A noted Mexican artist, Don Juan Rodriguez Juarez, greatly added 
to the beauty of the altar by his images and pictures, among which are the 
Assumption and the Epiphany. Beneath the altar of the Kings are buried 
the heads of the patriots Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez, brought from 
Guanajuato in great state and pomp after independence was secured. 

In the sacristy are some magnificent pictures that completely cover its 
walls: The Entry into Jerusalem, the Catholic Church and the Assumption, 
by Juan Correa; the Triumph of the Sacrament, Immaculate Conception, and 
the Glory of St. Michael, by Villalpando. In the Meeting Room is a Last 
Supper and Triumph of Faith by Alcibar, and a collection of portraits of 
all the Archbishops of Mexico by various artists. In the Chapter Room 
is a fine Murillo, the Virgin of Bethlehem, a Virgin by Cortona, and another 
by an unknown artist representing John of Austria imploring the Virgin at 
the battle of Lepanto. 

The Sagrario Metropolitatio adjoins the cathedral on the east side, and 
is really a part of the main structure and opens into it. It is built on the 
site of the first parish church of Mexico, the church of San Jose de los Na- 
turales, mentioned elsewhere, being the first parish church of the Indians. 
The Sagrario was founded in 1521 and dedicated to Santiago, the patron 
saint of Spain. The first chapel w^as built by Juan Rodriguez de Villafuerte 
for an asylum for Nuestra Sefiora de los Remedios. The present church was 
built about the middle of the eighteenth century from plans by the architect 
Lorenzo Rodriguez. The foundation was laid January 7, I749; dedication, 
January 9, 1768. The very intricate carvings of the facade are in striking 
contrast with the great front of the cathedral adjoining it. 

The interior is shaped as a Greek cross; richly carved columns support 
the high vaulted roof. There is a fine main altar and twelve minor ones. 
The church has not escaped the repairer's work, but there is much of the 
antique elegance that renders it intensely interesting. There are some fine 
pictures; in the baptistry is a fine fresco by Jose Gines de Aguirre, the first 
professor of fine arts sent from Spain and placed in charge of the Academy 
of Fine Arts. The fresco represents the baptism of Jesus. Constantin, San 
Agustin and San Felipe de Jesus. There is also a fine St. John in the Desert 
after Murillo. 

The little chapel between the cathedral and the Sagrario was built in 
1750 and called San Antonio, from an image placed there. Afterward a 
pious woman placed there an image of Nuestra Scnora de la Soledad, since 
when it has been known as La Capilla de la Soledad. 

Completing the group of churches and chapels about the cathedral is the 
Capilla de las Animas, adjoining the cathedral in the rear, and really a part 



101 

of it, facing on the street de las Escalerillas. This chapel was originally 
tenanted by a brotherhood whose duties required them to pray for the re- 
lease of souls from purgatory. The good padre Don Cayetano Gil de la 
Concha died October 7, at the age of eighty-seven, with an unbroken recoi^d 
of having said mass 45,324 times. The chapel was destroyed by fire March 
3, 1748, but rebuilt soon after. One of the altars supports an image of Santa 
Rita de Casia that is greatly venerated by the Indians. 

In all this great cathedral and its adjunct churches and chapels are con- 
centrated the pomp and circumstance of the church of Rome, that for cen- 
turies was the power of the land, and within the walls was made much of 
the country's history. 



















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DOMES OF THE ROYAL CHAPEL, CHOLULA. 

Santa Ana, on the street of the same name a dozen squares directly 
north of the Cathedral, was founded by the Franciscans. The church was 
dedicated March i6th, 1754, and became an independent parish in 1770. The 
font in which was baptized the Indian Juan Diego, to whom the vision of 
the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared, was preserved for many years in this 
church. 

San Antonio Abad, established in 1628, is on the street of that name 
in southern part of the city; only a chapel of the original church, convent 
and hospital now remains. 

La Balvanera, originally a convent and church, was founded in 1573. 
The corner-stone of the present church was laid May 3d, 1667, and dedicated 
December 6th, 1671, is located at the corner of the streets of Balvanera and 
Olmedo, about three squares from the Plaza Mayor, south two and east one. 
The church was built by a wealthy lady, Dofia Beatriz de Miranda, but the 
name of the donor was not known until after her death and that of her at- 
torney, Don Jose de Lombieda, who superintended the building. 



103 

Beleu d© los Padres ■ — Seven squares south from the Alameda on 
the Calle de los Arcos de Belen. . In the early history of the city an In- 
dian woman named Clara Maria owned some real estate near what is now 
known as the street of El Salto de Aguas, and being piously inclined, gave 
some land and built a monastery for the Brothers of Mercy, which she main- 
tained until she married and allowed a bad husband to squander her for- 
tune in riotous living, and was herself left in poverty, to be taken care of by 
the Brothers. Another Indian, Marcos, gave some lands and his service for 
life; then another woman, Dofia Ysabel de Picazo, gave of her money suffi- 
cient to build a church, which was dedicated in 1678, but the present church 
was not completed till 1735, through the beneficence of Don Domingo del 
Campo y Murga. The church has some fine paintings, and connected with it 
is the Colegio de San Pedro Pascual. 

San Bernardo, one square south of the Plaza Mayor, through the little 
street of Callejuela, was intended for a convent and was built from 
money bequeathed by Don Juan Marquez de Orozco, whose desire was for 
it to be occupied by the Cistercian Sisters, but none of that order being in 
the country three sisters of the donor opened the nunnery and lived there, 
and their successors until the suppression of convents. The first church was 
built by Don Jose Retes Largache, 1685-90. 

Santa Brigida, on the corner of 2d Independencia and San Juan de 
Letran, one square south of San Francisco street, near the Alameda, is the 
fashionable church of the city. The order of St. Bridget was introduced into 
Mexico through the gifts of Don Jose Francisco de Aguirre and his wife, 
Dona Gertrudis Roldan, in 1743, and by these pious persons the church was 
built in 1744 and dedicated on the 21st of December of that year. When the 
nuns were banished from the country and their property confiscated this 
church was bought in by a wealthy family, who gave it for church uses. There 
is nothing of the antique about Santa Brigida; it is the fashionable church of 
the capital and is kept in repair and up-to-date in its appointments. 

San Caitiilo, five squares south and one east of the Plaza Mayor, on 
the Calle de la Encarnacion, is now occupied by the Catholic Theological Semi- 
nary and the name changed to Seminario Conciliar. The church is a very 
pretty one indeed, with its tasteful decorations in white and gold. The Or- 
der of Carmilists, whose was the care of the sick and consolation of the 
dying, was established in Mexico in 1755 through Father Diego Martin de 
Moya. 

La Caridad — This church, on the Calzada de Santa M.aria, near the 
Plazuela de Villamil, three squares north of the Alameda, is all that remains 
of the Convent and College of the Sisters of Charity, established at a cost 
of nearly $200,000 by Padre Bolea Sanchez de Tagle, who wished to found 
an institution for the protection of Indian girls whose beauty might ex- 
pose them to the temptations and snares of the world, but the hopes of the 
good Padre were never realized, as the building was not completed before 
his death. The convent has always been called the Colegio de las Bonitas. 
College of the Pretty Girls, and was used by the Sisters of Charity, whose 
order was founded in Alexico by Dona Maria Ana Gomez de la Cortina, who 
paid the passage of twelve of the Sisters from Spain, who arrived in Mexico 
November 15th. 1844. when the good woman herself donned the habit and 
joined the order. She died and was buried in 18^16 in the patio of the con- 
vent, where her tomb now is. and by her will the church of La Caridad was 
built, at a cost of nearly $150,000. dedicated May 8th. 1854, General Santa 
Ana acting as sponsor, or padrino. For their good works the Sisters of 
Charity were for a time exempted from expulsion by the Laws of the Re- 



103 

form, but when the Laws became a part of Constitution in 1874 the order 
was suppressed, and the Sisters left Mexico in February, 1875, being the last 
of the religious orders to leave the country. 

El Carmen — The Carmelites arrived in Mexico in October, 1585, and 
after many trials and tribulations established a monastery and church of their 
own, in 1605 — which was pulled down and the foundations laid lor a magnifi- 
cent church that was never completed. The chapel was finished, however, 
and is still in use on the Plaza de la Concordia, seven squares north and one 
east of the Cathedral. 

Santa Cataliua d© Sena was built by two pious ladies named 
Felipas and placed in possession of two nuns of the Dominican order, who 
came from a convent in Oaxaca. The corner-stone was laid in 161 5, and the 
church dedicated March 7th, 1623. The convent was closed by the Laws of the 




CHURCH STATUARY— SANTA ROSA. 

Reform, but the church, on Calle Cerbatana, four squares north of the Cathedral, 
remains. 

Santa Catarina Martir is a very old church. The present church, 
on the corner of the street of that name and Calle del Cuadrante, seven squares 
north of the Cathedral, was built on the site of the first building and dedi- 
cated in 1662; the decorations are quaintly done and has some altars totally 
unlike any others. The good Dona Ysabel de la Barrera, wife of Don Simon 
de Haro, was the benefactress who gave the money to build the church. 

Santa Clara, on the corner of Vergara and Santa Clara, two squares 
north from San Francisco street, stands in evidence of the base uses to which 
some of the churches of Mexico have come under the Laws of the Reform. 
The convent is now a livery stable and one of the chapels is a shop. His- 
tory says that Francisca de San Agustin and her five daughters took the 
vows of the order of Santa Clara and that Don Alonzo Sanchez and his 



104 

wife gave then a house on the site of the present church, and they estab- 
iished a convent here in December, 1579 — and a church was founded that 
was dedicated October 226., 1661. Burned in 1755, the church was restored 
at once and remains to this day, though denuded of its fine altar and other 
decorations that w^ere the work of Pedro Ramirez. The convent was closed 
February 13th, 1861. ^ 

Colegio de las NiSas was founded by the famous Fray Pedro de 
Gante in 1548 as free schools for girls, and from the benevolence of its in- 
stitutions soon acquired great wealth, which was confiscated under the Re- 
form Laws, but the church on the street of same name, one square south 
of San Francisco street, still remains. 

Nuestra Sefiora de la Concepcioii was the first convent of Mexico, 
and was established by Fray Antonio de la Cruz, a monk of the order 
of San Francisco, who brought here three nuns from the convent of 
Santa Ysabel de Salamanca, in Spain. The first building was demolished in 
1644 and the present church and convent built at a cost of nearly $300,000 
through the generosity of Don To mas Suaznaba and the donors of the church 
of Santa Catarina Martir, and at one time was one of the wealthiest in Mex- 
ico, owning nearly $2,000,000 worth of property, and the convent a most 
fashionable one, if we may say a convent is fashionable. The first families 
were represented in the nuns of the Convent of Our Lady of the Conception. 
Originally the church was magnificently decorated, and some of the former 
splendor has survived the modern repairer; over the main altar is an image 
of La Purisima Concepcion, the origin of which is unknown. A legend says 
that at one time there w^as back of the organ a dropping of water from the 
roof, the source of which was never discovered, but one of the nuns read 
the interpretation in a vision that appeared to her, viz., that the drops of 
water marked of¥ the years of the convent's existence, and that w'hen the 
water ceased to drop it would come to an end — but the story does not add 
that the falling water ceased when the Laws of the Reform w^ere put in 
force, but there was the end of the convent. Since then the streets of Pro- 
greso and Cincuenta-siete have been opened through the grounds, and the 
buildings used for schools and dwellings. The very high tow^er is on thf 
Plaza de la Concepcion, at the corner of the Callejon de Dolores, four squares 
north of San Francisco street. 

Corpus Cristi was established as a convent for the reception of In- 
dian girls only, and they to be of noble families, which was the decree of 
Pope Benedict XIII, dated June 26th. 1727, at the solicitation of Don Bal- 
tazar de Zuiiiga, Marques de Valera, Viceroy at that time, and at whose ex- 
pense of $50,000 the first convent and church was built. The corner stone 
was laid September 12th, 1720, and the church dedicated July loth, 1724. Some 
nuns from the other convents of the city took possession and prepared to receive 
the Indian novices, establishing the custom that w'hen they took the veil they 
should always be dressed in the most elaborate costumes of the Indians, but 
this ]:)assed away at the closing of the convent. The church near the Calle 
de la Concei)cion. opposite the Alameda on the south side, remains open. 

San Cosme is one of the oldest churches in the city, established by 
Fray Juan de Zumarraga, first Archbishop of Mexico, about the year 1538, 
as a hospital for Indians, and dedicated the chapel to Cosmo and Damian, 
the holy Arabian doctors. The enterprise not succeeding, the establishment 
fell into the hands of the Franciscans, who built a monastery and church in 
t6oo. The present church was built soon after. Don Agustin Guerrero be- 
ing the donor of the ground and paying for the foundations, but for many 
years remained incomplete, till one day "Captain Don Domingo de Canta- 



105 




brana was overtaken on the 
Tacuba road by a violent 
thunder storm and sought 
shelter in the monastery. 
He was so kindly treated 
by the monks that he gave 
them $75,000 with which to 
complete the monastery and 
church. The corner-stone 
was laid in 1672, August 
29th, and the church dedi- 
cated three years later, 
January 13th, to Nuestra 
Sehora de la Consolacion, 
but the old name of San 
Cosme remains. The mod- 
est Captain Don Domingo 
declined the honor of being 
the patron, asking them to 
accept San Jose in his stead 
— in memory of which a 
painting was placed in the 
church representing the 
transfer of the title of 
patron from the good Cap- 
tain to San Jose. The picv 
ture is a curious one, show- 
ing San Pedro among the 
angels hovering over a co- 
terie of monks, with Don 
Domingo .- and a notary in 
the act of attesting the 
papers. An inscription tells 
the story. The painting is 
by Don Jose de Alcibar. 
There is an image of San 
Antonio that the legend 
says restored a little child 
to life, and an image of Our 
Lady of Consolacion which 
rescued a little girl from 
drowning in a well. Near 
the picture is the tomb of 
Viceroy Don J u an d e 
Acuha, Marques de Casa- 
fuerte, who died March 17, 
1734. The monastery be- 
came a military hospital in 
1855, with Seiiora Doha Do- 
lores Tosta de Santa Ana, 
wife of General and Presi- 
dent Santa Ana, as god- 
mother, but was finally 



STATUE OF DONA SENORA JOSEFA DOMINGUEZ— 
PLAZA OF SANTO DOMINGO. 



106 

abandoned in 1862. It was in the tower of this church that Lieutenant U. 
S. Grant placed a howitzer and used it with such advantage in the battle of 
the 13th of September, 1847; the church is on the street of San Cosme, about 
a mile west of the Alameda. 

Santa Cruz Acatlan, on the Plazuela de Santiago, is one of the oldest 
of the Indian churches, with the usual convent attachment. The convent was 
closed when the nuns were expelled, but the church, with its historic pictures, 
remains open. 

Santa Cruz y Soledad was founded as an Indian mission in 1534. 
The present church was finished and dedicated October 21st, 1731. The al- 
tars and chapel decorations are by celebrated Mexican artists. There is an 
image of Nuestra Sehora del Refugio in the church that was formerly fastened 
to a wall in the Calle del Refugio, which street took its name from the image 
whose fiesta is annually celebrated here on the 4th of June. The church is in 
the eastern part of the city, near the Garita de San Lazaro. 

San Diego is on the street of the same name, just west of the Alameda. 
The original foundation was by the Franciscans, who commenced to build in 
1591, but the church was not completed till 1621. The present church com- 
prises the walls of the old one. The church is handsomely decorated and has 
some fine pictures by the noted artist Vallejo, among which are the "Prayer 
in the Garden," "The Last Supper" and other subjects in the life of the 
Savior, and on each side of the altar allegorical pictures of the Virgin of 
Guadalupe and San Jose. The expenses of building the first church were paid 
by Don Mateo Mauleon and his wife, and the tabernacle in the present church 
was built through the efforts of Fray Carnago. 

Santo Domingo, originally a monastery and church, now a church 
only, the monastery having been demolished, as was also a part of the church, 
in opening streets under the Laws of the Reform. The first church was 
dedicated in 1575 and destroyed by the inundation of 1716. The present build- 
ing was completed in 1736. and remained intact till the opening of the streets 
by the Government in 1861. The church is one of the largest and handsom- 
est in the city and has some fine pictures, among which are the Crucifixion 
and San Yldefonso. The church fronts on the Plaza de Santo Domingo, in 
the center of which is a statue of Sehora Doha Josefa Dominguez, the heroine 
of Alexican Independence, whose remains rest in the panteon of Queretaro. 
Here, the traveler is told, is the spot where the Aztecs saw the eagle with the 
serpent and held it as an omen for the site of the city, four squares north 
of the Cathedral^ 

Nuestra Senora de la Encarnacion was in its day of splendor the 
most magnificent convent in Mexico. The original church cost Don 
Alvaro de Lorenzana over $100,000 to build. The corner stone was laid De- 
cember i8th, 1639, and the church dedicated March 7th. 1648. when the deco- 
rations alone cost nearly $40,000. Later a magnificent cloister was built and 
still remains intact. The property owned by the institution amounted to 
over $1,000,000, and when all the convents were closed the pictures were 
brought and stored here. In 1886 the building was utilized as a Law School 
and a seminary for young ladies. Many of the old decorations remain, and 
the modern use of gold leaf has added to their lavishness. Three squares 
north of the Cathedral on the street of the same name. 

Ensenanza Antigua was established in 1754. The convent was in 
later years occupied by the Palacio de Justicia and a school for the blind. 
The church is still open and has some good pictures by native artists. It 
is on the Calle de Cordobanes, two squares north of the Cathedral. 



107 

San Femaiido — The corner-stone was laid October lit A, 1735, and 
the church dedicated April 20th, 1755. It was much injured by the earth- 
quake of 1858, since which repairs have done much to obliterate its former 
magnificence, but many fine pictures remain. 

San Francisco — The original church and monastery was the great- 
est in all Mexico, and its name is closely identified with the great events of 
the country's history, from Cortez to Comonfort and Juarez. Established by 
the Twelve Apostles of Mexico and Fray Pedro de Gante, who came to 
Mexico City three years after its occupation by Cortez. the first church v/as 
built in the grounds that had been the wild beast garden of Montezuma. 
The building material was taken from the great teocali of Aztecs, in what 
is now the Plaza Mayor, Cortez contributing the building fund. The grounds 




DOMES OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

covered three great squares in the very center of the city, bounded on the 
north by First San Francisco Street, on the south by the Calle de Zuleta, on 
the east by Calles Coliseo, and Colegio de las Niiias, and on the west by San 
Juan de Letran, an estate that would now be worth more than ten millions of 
dollars for the ground alone, which are now occupied by Hotels Iturbide, San 
Carlos and Jardin, and the adjoining stores and residences, an estate worth 
some more millions. The history of this great house of Franciscans from 
the zenith of its power to its downfall would fill volumes with its incidents. 
Cortez heard masses from its altars, and within its walls his bones were en- 
tombed. In this church the Viceroys attended mass and lent their presence 
at the great' festivals. Here was sung the first Te Deum of Mexican Inde- 



108 

pendence, General Agustin Yturbide being in the assemblage, and here he, 
too, was buried. 

The church flourished and the Brothers went about doing good, and 
they prospered until the evil day came when they thought to put the State 
under the rule of the Church, and a conspiracy tending to the overthrow of 
Government was discovered and it was reported to President Comonfort the 
14th of September, 1856, that the Franciscans were at the head of a revolt 
and that the blow was to be struck on the 15th, Independence day. The 
President, acting with his accustomed, promptness, sent his troops to the 
monastery early on the morning of the 15th and arrested the entire com- 
munity of monks, took possession of church, monastery and grounds; on the 
i6th a decree w^as announced opening a new street called Independencia that 
cut the grounds from east to west. Two days later another decree cited the 
treason of the Franciscans and suppressed the monastery. 

The decree of suppression was rescinded in the following February, and, 
although shorn of its greatness and some of its real estate, the monastery 
was restored and continued in a feeble way till the entry of the army of 
Juarez, on the 27th of December, i860, when the great monastery was closed 
forever. The ornaments, jewels and paintings were taken to the Academy of 
Fine Arts, the interior decorations were defaced and the altars removed. 
In April another street was opened through the property, with the scant 
satisfaction to the Franciscans that the street was called Gante, in honor 
of the greatest of their order. 

Soon the construction of dwelling houses began, and stores were built, 
the monastery became a hotel, and the refectory, where there w-as room for 
five hundred brothers to sit together at the table, became a stable — and the 
church, after an almost royal existence of three hundred and thirty years, be- 
came a Protestant Cathedral with scarcely a memory of its Catholic glory. 

The main church of San Francisco, as it existed up to i860, was dedicated 
December 8th, 1716. It was a magnificent structure, 60 feet wide by 230 feet 
long, with a dome and lantern over a hundred feet high; the great walls 
were covered with pictures, and thousands and thousands of dollars were ex- 
pended in decorations, the silver tabernacle over the altar costing $25,000. 

Rather than a church there was a group of seven churches, called by dif- 
ferent names, but all were San Franciscan. The only remaining one of the 
group is that of Nuestra Sefiora de Aranzazu, and that is now known as 
San Felipe de Jesus. The entrance is on First San Francisco Street, where 
a new facade has been built that is joined to the old walls whose corner- 
stone was laid in 1683, on the 2Sth of March. ]\Iany of the elegant interior 
decorations remain. In walking around the block bounded by the streets 
of San Francisco, San Juan de Letran, Independencia and Gante remains 
of the faqades of the old churches may be seen. The Hotel Jardin was the 
infirmary and lodging house of the monastery. Across the garden is the old 
refectory, now a livery stable. The Yturbide Hotel is on grounds intended 
for a convent, and the San Carlos is within the line of the walls of old San 
Francisco. 

In 1869 the great church was sold to the Protestant Church of Jesus in 
Mexico. Trinity (Methodist Episcopal) Church was constructed from a por- 
tion of the old walls, and Christ Church, Church of England, occupies an- 
other part. Dwellings, stores, shops, hotels, restaurants, are built on the 
grounds of the ancient church and monastery. 

San Geroiiittio was founded as a convent in 1586, noted particularly 
as the convent where the great poetess of Mexico. Juana Inez de la Cruz, 
took the veil, and where, after a long and useful life, she died April 17th, 



109 




TABLET OF SAN HIPo'lITO. 



1695. The convent was, of 
course, suppressed with all 
the others. The cJiurch is 
on the street of the same 
name. 

San Hipolito marks 
the spot of the terrible de- 
feat of the Spaniards by the 
Aztecs on that fearful, dis- 
mal night, la Noche Triste ; 
the re-entry of the Span- 
iards to the city was made 
on the day of San Hipolito, 
August 13th, 1521, and one 
of the soldiers, Juan Gar- 
ndo, built a little chapel of 
adobe in memory of his 
comrades who fell that 
night. The chapel was called 
for its founder, then called 
the "Chapel of the Mar- 
tyrs," and finally it was 
named San Hipolito of the 
Martyrs, and by that name 
the church is still known. 

The church was com- 
menced in 1599, but was not 
completed till 1739. For 
many years the 13th of Au- 
gust was celebrated by the 
Brothers marching in the 
Procession of the Banner, 
in_ which was carried the 
■crmison standard of the 
Conquest. 

On a corner of the wall 
surrounding the front of 
the church is a tablet com- 
memorating the defeat of 
the Dismal Night. Cut in 
the solid stone is the figure 
of an eagle bearing an In- 
dian in his talons, sur- 
ounded by musical instru- 
ments, arrows, spears, and 
trophies of the Aztecs. A 
'arge medallion bears this 
nscription in Spanish: "So 
great was the slaughter of 
the Spaniards by the Az- 
tecs at this place on 
the night of July ist, 
1520— so called for that 



110 

reason the Dismal Night — that after having in the following year re-entered 
the city in triumph, the conquerors resolved to build here a chapel, to be 
called the Chapel of the Martyrs; and which should be dedicated to San Hip- 
olito because the capture of the city occurred on that Saint's day." 

The church in the broad street, the continuation of La Avenida de los 
Hombres Ilustres, that runs along the north side of the Alameda, is on the 
north side of the street, one square west of the Alameda. 

Hospital Real and church was originally established under a royal 
order in 1553 as a hospital for the Indians and placed under the management 
of the Brothers of San Hipolito, who built the Theatre Principal for the pur- 
pose of raising money from the performances for the support of the hospital; 
these methods, and the taxes on the Indians of a measure of corn or a medio, 
6^ cents, per annum, failed to maintain it, and the hospital became a Medical 
College, the second in America. The University of Pennsylvania (1764) was 
the first. Finally, from lack of support, it was closed and the church became 
a Presbyterian mission, located just south of the Hotel Jardin, one square. 

Santa Inez was founded in 1600 by the Marqueses de la Cadena. The 
church was dedicated January 20th, 1770. The facade is richly decorated in 
the Ionic order, and the doors handsomely carved. The church was closed 
for many years, but re-opened under the name of the Sagrado Corazon de 
Jesus, but the old name is mostly in use. It is in the street of the same name, 
three squares east of the Cathedral. 

Jesus Maria — Founded in 1577 by two pious men, Don Pecho Tomas 
Denia and Don Gregorio de Pasquera, with the idea that the descendants 
of the Conquerors should be the nuns. The convent was occupied in 1580, 
removed to its present site in 1582, at which time there came a nun to this 
convent who was said to be a daughter of Phillip the Second of Spain and 
a niece of the then Archbishop and later Viceroy of Mexico and first In- 
quisitor General, Don Pedro Moya de Contreras. This story is substan- 
tiated by the contributions to the convent of large sums of money from the 
Royal Treasury of Spain and the Viceroyal exchequer of IMexico. 

The corner-stone of the church was laid March 9th, 1597, and dedication 
took place February 7th, 1621. The church contams some handsome pictures, 
notably a St. Thomas and a Virgin and Infant Christ by Jimeno, and a Christ 
in the Temple by Cordero. Location, two squares north of the National 
Palace. 

Jesus Nazareno was founded by Cortez immediately after the perma- 
nent occupation of the city, and by his wull left ample endowment for its 
building and support, but it was nearly a hundred years before it reached an 
era of prosperity, and the church whose building commenced in 1575 was 
not dedicated till ninety years after, when the name was changed from the 
original one of Nuestra Sefiora de la Purisima Concepcion to Jesus Nazareno. 
from the miraculous image of Jesus of Nazareth that came into its posses- 
sion through the death of a pious Indian woman to whom it had belonged. 

The church has suffered little from modern repairs and renovations. The 
handsomely carved wooden roof remains, but the doors and other wood- 
work were renewed in 1835. The old altars and the large tabernacle are still 
in place. 

Another notable image is that of Nuestra Sefiora de la Bala, that was once 
the property of a poor Indian of Ixtapalapan, who. the legend says, took his 
gun with the intent of shooting his wife. The terrified woman fell down be- 
fore the image and implored the protection of the Virgin — and when the shot 
was fired it was found that the old man was not a particularly good marks- 
man, and that the ball had lodged in the image, after which husband and 



Ill 

wife became reconciled as they perceived that a miracle had been performed. 
T he image was kept in the church of San Lazaro for two hundred years and 
brought to Jesus Nazareno in 1884. The bones of Cortez rested in this church 
for awhile. The Conqueror directed that should he die in Spain his bones 
should, after ten years, be taken to Mexico and placed in the Convent of La 
Concepcion, that it was his intention to build, but which never was built. 
Cortez died in Castilleja de la Questa, in Spain, December 2d, 1547. The body 
was deposited in the tomb of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, and ten years later 
was taken to Mexico and placed in the Church of San Francisco, in Texcoco, 
where it remained till 1629. On the 30th of January of that year his grand- 
son, Don Pedro Cortez, died, the last of the male line. It was concluded to 
remove the remains of the Conqueror and bury them with the grandson in 
the Church of San Francisco, in the City of Mexico, which was done with 
great pomp and ceremony, and here his bones reposed for one hundred and 
sixty-five years. 




DWELLING IN A RUINED CHURCH. 

On the 2d of July, 1734, the bones were removed again and placed in a 
magnificent marble mausoleum in the Church of Jesus Nazareno, remaining 
there for nearly thirty years. During the revolutionary times of the war for 
Independence the hatred of the people for the Spaniards threatened even the 
bones of the great soldiers of the Conquest, and on the night of the 15th of 
September, 1823, they were removed and secreted in another part of the 
church, and later taken out secretly and sent to Spain, and were finally laid 
to rest in the tombs of the Dukes of Monteleone in Italy. His bones having 
crossed the Atlantic twice, were interred six times in as manj different places, 
and finally have rested neither in the land of his birth, or in the country he 
conquered. 

In the Church of Jesus Nazareno are buried some men of note: Don Man- 
uel Vilar, the sculptor; Don Lucas Alaman, the historian; Col. Manuel Cal- 
deron, and Fray Juan Crisortomo Najera. 



lis 

The church is on the street of the same name, three squares south of the 
Plaza Mayor^ 

San Jose on the street of the same name, four squares south of the 
Alameda, was founded b}^ Fray Pedro de Gante in 1524. The present church 
was built by Don Diego Alvarez, who was at once a lawyer, parish priest 
and decorative artist, and who, with his own hands, made the frescoes. The 
walls were cracked by the earthquake of July 19th, 1858, and the church 
was practically rebuilt, at which time it fell heir to some of the altars, bells, 
etc., that were being taken from the dismantled church of San Francisco, 
receiving its final dedication June 20th, 1861, more than three hundred years 
after its foundations were laid. 

San Jose de Gracia was founded as a convent and church in 1610, 
and fifty 3'ears later the present church was built. The convent suppressed, 
the church became the property of the State, and in 1870 was sold to the Pro- 
testants. On the street of the same name, four squares south and one east 
of the National Palace. 

San Juan de Dios, opposite the Alameda, on the north side, was 
founded in 1582, dedicated 1629, destroyed by fire and commenced rebuilding 
1766. The recessed fagade and portal are very handsome, and is in strange 
contrast with the low surrounding houses, among which was a cheap variety 
theater. 

San Jviaii de la Peneteticia was founded as a chapel of San Juan 
Bautista in 1524 by Fray Pedro de Gante. A convent was added in 1593, and 
both church and convent were supported by alms given by the Indians, at 
whose instance and by whose efforts the convent was established. After a 
while there came a great earthquake, and the church would have been de- 
stroyed but for the uplifted arm of an image of the Child Jesus, that pre- 
vented the great arch of the church from falling, and the church stood till it 
was pulled down and rebuilt in 1695, at the expense of Dona Juana Villasenor 
Lomelin. Location, four squares south of the Alameda, near the Calle de 
las Artes 

San Lazaro. was originally a hospital for lepers, founded by Dr. Pedro 
Lopez in 1572, and for nearly a hundred and fifty years was supported by him 
and his estate, and by the Brothers of St. John till the order was suppressed, 
in 1821. The present church was built in 1721 at a cost of nearly $100,000, 
and was one of the finest in ]\Iexico. The location is about twelve sciuares east 
of the Cathedral, at the end of the street passing from the southeast corner. 

San Lorenzo, on the street of the same name, four squares north of 
San Francisco street, was originally an Agustinian convent. The church was 
built by Don Juan Fernandez Riofrio and dedicated July i6th, 1650. The 
convent has since been occupied by the School of Arts. 

Nuestra Sefiora de Loreto, the church of the leaning tower, is 
two squares north and two squares east of the Cathedral. It is a Jesuit founda- 
tion of 1573. the original church being made of canes and reeds, dedicated 
to San Gregorio. In 1675 Father Juan Zappa brought the image of Our Lady 
of Loreto and the plans for her house to Alexico. Chapels were built in 1686 
and 1738, but not until 1809 was the present church commenced, and in 1816, 
August 29, it was dedicated. The work was paid for by Sefior Don Antonio 
de Bassoco and his wife. La Marquesa de Castaniza, the total cost being nearly 
$600. coo. The architecture is somewhat different from the prevailing style. 
There are four rotundas rising to a superb dome above the arches. The in- 
terior decorations are very beautiful, and there are some fine paintings by 
Joaquin Fsquivcl from the life of Loyola of San Gregorio and a portrait of 
Father Zappa. Owing to some defects in the foundation or building material 



113 



one side of the church commenced to sink, which was aggravated by the inun- 
dation, and the church was closed in 1832; eighteen years later it was found 
that there was no danger of the leaning towers toppling over, and the church 
was reopened in 1850. 

Nuestra SeSora de los Angeles, fronting the Plaza de Zaragosa, 
about a mile north of the Alameda, is a church with many vicissitudes 
in its history that commenced in 1580, when an Indian chief called Isayoque 
found floating on 
the waters of the 
great inundation of 
that year a very 
beautiful picture of 
the Virgin, and 
when the waters 
had subsided he 
built a chapel of 
adcbe in which to 
keep the canvas he 
had found, but for 
some reason con- 
cluded not to keep 
it there at all, and 
had a replica of the 
picture painted by 
an eminent artist in 
a very beautiful 
manner on the 
adobe walls of the 
chapel. 

Fifteen years 
later a larger chapel 
was built over the 
adobe one, preserv- 
ing the wall on 
which the picture 
was painted, which 
had so many angels 
about the picture of 
the Virgin that the 
new chapel came to 
be called Our Lady 
of the Angels. 

Having its origin 
in the floods of the 
valley, misfortune 
came to the church 
again through the 

inundation of 1607, stone stairs of guadalupe. 

and great damage was done to the picture, but the face and hands remained 
uninjured, which was regarded as a miracle. The church was repaired, but 
not until two hundred years later, when the present church was built, through 
the good offices of Sefior Larragoitis, and completed in the year 1808. 

The miraculous painting, so much of it as was not lost in the melting away 




114 



of the adobe in the water, remains, the missing portions being covered by a 
dress made in the shop of a good tailor named Jose de Haro in 1776. It is 
now covered by a glass casing to prevent further injury. Among the other 
pictures is an equestrian painting of Santiago that came from the church of 
Santiago Tlaltelolco when it was closed by the government. Here, also, is 
preserved a stone bearing date of 1595 that came from the walls of the second 
chapel. 

Santa Maria La Redoiida, on the Plaza de Santa Maria, four 
squares north of the Alameda, was founded in 1524, and came to have many 
Indian Avorshipers, one of whom started to make an image for his church; one 
day he was called from his w^ork, and when he returned found the image mirac- 
ulously completed. Many miracles were performed by the image, and it is 

greatly venerated since 
the quenching of a fire in 
church on the nth of De- 
cember. In this church 
was preserved for many 
years the coiled feathered 
serpent emblem of the god 
Quetzalcoatl. The stone, 
inverted, its hollow base 
was used as a font for holy 
water. Tht Feast of the 
Assumption was celebrat- 
ed in great style by the In- 
dians every year, attract- 
ing great crowds; some 
students at one time made 
light of the processions 
and the Indians resenting, 
a riot ensued, after w-hich 
the Archbishop forbade 
the people going there 
any more on that feast 
day. 

San Miguel, eight 
, , , , SAN cosME. squares south of the Ca- 

thedral, is the church of the butchers, who celebrate their saint's day October 
i8th of each year. The church was founded in 1690. the present church being 
opened in 1692, and in 1714 was greatly enlarged and received the dedication 
to San Aliguel. The church was repaired in 1850, but the quaintly carved old 
doors remain. 

Nuestra Sefiora de Monseratte, built in 1590, has an image of the 
Virgin of Monseratte brought from Monseratte. in Spain, a replica of the 
famous image that is there. The brotherhood of Monseratte did many good 
works by their teachings in Mexico, and introduced fruits and vegetables from 
the old country. When the order was suppressed the pictures, among wdiich 
w'as St. John in the Desert, were placed in the Academy of Fine Arts. The 
church is on Calles Verde and Monseratte, seven squares south and one west 
of the Plaza Mayor. 

San Pablo, six squares south and three east from the Plaza Mayor, 
near the Plaza de San Pablo, was founded in 1^69, the present church in 1580, 
but was not completed till about the vear 1800. 

Safito Towas La Palma, on the Plazuela de la Palma, in the south- 




115 



east part of the city, about a mile from the Cathedral, was founded in 1550, 
The carvings of the altars, roof and doors are interesting. 

Porta Coeli was founded by the Dominicans August i8th, 1603, origi- 
nally a college that was suppressed in i860, but the very interesting church 
remains. On the fajade is inscribed from the Bible in Latin: Terribles est 
locus iste Domiis Dei et Porta Coeli, On the street of the same name, one 
square south of the Plaza Mayor. 

La Profesa was founded by the Jesuits in 1595. The existing church 
was dedicated as La Casa Profesa de la Compahia de Jesus. Up to the time 
of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico in 1767 the church had accumulated 
much property, which reverted to the Government, and part of it bought 
in by the order San Felipe Neri, and the church was then called San Jose el 
Real, Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, al- 
though the old name of La Profesa is 
most in use. The church is one of the 
finest in Mexico, designed by Pelegrin 
Clave and his pupils, Petronilo Monroy, 
Felipe Castro and Jose Ramirez, who 
painted its pictures and made the mag- 
nificent white and gold decorations, al- 
though the altar is the work of Tolsa. 
The most prominent pictures are the 
Adoration of the Cross and the Seven 
Sacraments. The drapings of velvet in 
crimson, with gold embroideries, that 
are used in the great fiestas were pre- 
sented by Father Manuel Sanchez de 
Tagle y Bolea. The pretty little gar- 
den on San Francisco Street was planted 
by order of the City Council; on the 
other side of the church property some 
of its buildings were demolished for the 
opening of the Calle de Cinco de Mayo. 
The church is on Profesa or Third San 
Francisco, at the corner of Calle San 
Jose Real, two squares west of the Plaza \ 
Mayor. 

Regiiia Coeli, in the southern 
part of the city, on the plaza and street 
of the same name, six squares from San Francisco Street, was built in 1553 
originally, the present church, in 1731, being dedicated September 13th of that 
year. The interior decorations are marvelously beautiful, in carvings of wood, 
in colors and in gold, presented by the good Fray Jose Lanciego y Eguiluz. 

Salto del Agua was so called from the fountain near the church — the 
curiously carved fountain at the end of the aqueduct from Chapultepec. The 
corner stone was laid March 19th, 1750. The church is at the corner of the 
Plaza de la Tecpan de San Juan, seven squares south of First San Francisco 
Street. 

Santiago Tlaltelolco was the church attended by the good Indian 
Juan Diego, in which he was baptized and to where he was going to 
hear mass when the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to him. In 1524 the Francis- 
cans established a chapel on this site; in 1537 a college was established for the 
education of the Indians, and from which many eminent Mexicans proceeded. 
The college was closed in 1578, reopened in 1667, closed again, and reopened 
in 1728, and finally closed in 1811, and the great domed church used as a custom 




THE FIRST SHRINE IN MEXICO. 



116 

house, while the convent has been made a prison. The font in which Juan 
Diego was baptized was taken to the church of Santa Ana, images and paintings 
to JSluestra Sefiora de los Angeles. The church is about two. miles north of the 
Cathedral, now used as a Custom House. 

La Satitisiitia has a most beautiful facade, richly and most elaborately 
carved, and has an interior decoration that is interesting, though hardly in 
keeping with the outer walls. The original foundation was in 1658. Its pur- 
pose was a convent, and later a hospital for the poor. The second church was 
dedicated in 1677, and the present one January 17th, 1783. The church is five 
squares directly east of the Cathedral. 

Sail Sebastian was founded by Fray Pedro De Gante in 1524, with a 
hospital attachment. Two squares east and three north of the Cathedral. 

Santa Teresa La Antigua, originally a convent of the Sisters of 
Santa Teresa, began its history in a lawsuit. Don Juan Luis de Rivera pro- 
vided by his will to build the convent. His heirs not carrying out the pro- 
visions of the will, the Archbishop Don Juan Perez de la Serna brought suit 
and caused the money to be paid and the deeds of land and houses turned 
over to him. A new trouble then came up — the people refused to vacate the 
houses. The energetic Archbishop gained an entrance by night, July 4th, 1615, 
into the patio and erected an altar, and hung the bells which he rang at day- 
light summoning the people to mass, after which the astonished people were 
notified that he, the Archbishop, had taken possession in the name of the 
Church; that they must go at once, and they stood not upon the order of their 
going. The work of tearing down the houses commenced that day, and in 
less than a year the nuns were admitted to their convent. 

The installation was attended by the wife of the Viceroy and the noble 
ladies of the land, one of the ladies in waiting of the Vice-Queen being so 
impressed that she became the first novice. 

The corner stone of the present church was laid October 8th, 1678, and 
the church was dedicated to Nuestra Sefiora la Antigua, September loth, 1684. 

A miraculous crucifix, brought from Spain in 1545, originally in a church 
of Cardonal, in the State of Hidalgo, is in this church. The legend says thai 
at one time an accident befell the crucifix and so disfigured it that it was thrown 
into the fire, but the flames did not affect it; then it was buried, and after 
awhile it was resurrected and finally grew to its original freshness and beauty. 
The Archbishop Serna had it brought and placed in an oratory, and later 
his successor, Don Francisco Manzo de Zimiga, built a chapel for it, but 
intending to bring it to the city, and finally when he sent for it the people of 
Cardonal refused to let it go, and a pitched battle ensued between them and 
the Archbishop's men, but they triumphed, and it was brought to the church 
of Santa Teresa la Antigua and a chapel built for it. 

After a while, as the fame of the miracles of this crucifix were noised 
abroad, the old chapel was abandoned and a new one built that became one 
of the most beautiful in the city. The corner stone of the new chapel was 
laid in 1798, December 17th, and the chapel dedicated May 17th, 1813. It was 
a gift from Don Manuel Flores and was the work of the architect Don Antonio 
Valasquez. The magnificent church was almost totally destroyed by the earth- 
quake of April 7th, 1845. The crucifix, although it had gone through fire, been 
buried and resurrected, was but slightly damaged. Pending the repairing of the 
chapel the crucifix was taken to the Cathedral, remaining there till 1858. 
when, on the 9th of May, it was taken back to its place with great pomp and 
ceremony. 

The new chapel retains much of the beauty of the old one, and has some 
very fine pictures, among which is a Coronation of the Virgin. 



117 

The church is one square east of the Cathedral, on a short street called 
Santa Teresa, running north from opposite the rear of the Palace. 

Santa Teresa La ISueva is one square north from the rear of the 
Cathedral and two squares east, opposite the Plaza of Loreto. The corner 
stone was laid September 2ist, 1701, and dedicated January 25th, 1715. 

Santa Vera Cruz was founded by Hernando Cortez, the Conqueror, 
and instituted a Brotherhood of the True Cross, whose duties were to comfort 
condemned criminals prior to their execution and afterward to bury them. 

The church contains a crucifix in a shrine behind seven veils — and at the 
time of its establishment, about the year 1574, one hundred days of indulgence 
were granted to all who visited the holy image at the unveiling. And even 
now it is customary to grant indulgencies on certain days, usually on each 

Friday of the year, 
to all who will visit 
the image. The 
crucifix is called 
El Senor de los 
Siete Velos, the 
Lord of the Seven 
Veils. The present 
church was dedi- 
cated in 1730, Oc- 
tober 14th. The 
church is on the 
Plaza de Morelos, 
opposite the Ala- 
meda, on the north 
side, on the Av- 
enida de los Hom- 
bres Ilustres. 

Tlie Inquisi- 
tion. — In 1527, by 
a royal order, all 
Jews and Moors 
were banished from 
Mexico — this was 
the beginning of 
the Inquisition, 
Two years later a 
council, consisting 
of Bishop Fuenleal, 

President, and the other members of the Audencia, Bishop Zumar- 
raga, the chiefs of the Franciscan and Dominican orders, the munici- 
pal authorities and two prominent citizens, met in the City of Mexico 
and made public this declaration: "It is most necessary that the Holy 
Office of the Inquisition shall be extended to this land, because of 
the commerce with strangers here carried on, and because of the many 
corsairs abounding upon our coasts, which strangers may bring their evil 
customs among both natives and Castilians, who, by the grace of God, should 
be kept free from heresy." Whereupon the Inquisition was duly organized 
and commenced its work immediately. 

In 1570, under a royal order dated August i6th, Don Pedro Moya de Con- 
treras— afterward Archbishop and Viceroy — was appointed Inquisitor Gen- 
eral for Mexico, Guatemala and the Philippine Islands, with official quarters 




FREIGHT DEPOT IN A CHURCH AT CUAUTLA. 



118 

in the City of Mexico — only the Indians being exempted from trial and con- 
sequent and inevitable conviction and execution by this tribunal. 

Although the Inquisition was practically organized in 1529, as Vetancourt, 
a contemporary writer, says with rather an energetic zeal: "The tribunal 
of the Inquisition, the strong fort and mount of Zion, was founded in ]\Iexico 
in the year 1571. They have celebrated general and particular autos de fe 
with great concourse of dig:nitaries, and in all cases the Catholic faith and its 
truth have remained victorious." 

The popular meaning of ''''auto de fe'''' has always been taken to be the 
burning of a victim of the Inquisition, and this is what it always did mean, 
although these words were applied to the public ceremony after the secret 
trial, which ceremony commenced with a profession of faith by the members 
of the tribunal, and those assembled, of their belief in Christianity and the 
Church. Then the tribunal announced the charge against the victims, and 
the verdict, following with a recommendation to mercy, the poor victims 
were turned over to the authorities for punishment, which meant death in the 
fire, for the Inquisition had but one charge, heresy, and one verdict, death in 
the flames. 

St. Dominick was the originator of the Inquisition, and the Dominicans 
gave a monastery in Mexico for the chamber of the tribunal, which was 
rebuilt and enlarged, but no record of it remains. But the building on the 
Plaza de Santo Domingo, now occupied as a Medical College, commenced in 
1732 and completed in 1736, was occupied by the tribunal for many years. 
It was a foregone conclusion that a person summoned before the Inquisition 
was already condemned, and that when he went forth again from the court it 
was to the fiery stake. It is said of a Colonel of Mexican cavalry who was 
commanded to appear before the tribunal that he marched his regiment there 
and drew his soldiers up in line in front of the building where the Inquisition 
was sitting, telling his soldiers of the summons, and that if he did not return in 
twenty minutes they should enter and find him. What transpired within will 
never be known, but the Colonel was back again at the head of his regiment 
before the twenty minutes expired. It is probable, though, that the inquisitorial 
court was prepared to execute one man only, and not a regiment. 

The first auto de fe in Mexico was in the year 1574, when "twenty-one 
pestilent Lutherans" were burned to death, after which there was almost an 
annual feast of fire for these teachers of Christianity (?) and brotherly love — 
though it is said that in many cases the victims were mercifully strangled be- 
fore they were burned— as in the autodefe of April nth, 1649, fifteen persons 
were burned, but only one burned alive, Tomas Trevifio. a Spaniard of Sobre- 
monte. in Castile. It was alleged that he had "cursed the Holy Ofiice and the 
Pope," and he was tied to the stake and burned alive. 

The place of execution by fire was called the brazero^ or as it was a plat- 
form of stones, it was called quemedaro. One was located on an open space 
now occupied by the Alameda where the Fray Vetancourt says exultingly 
that there was a good view from the doors of the church of San Diego, 
where the ashes of the victims were thrown in the marsh at the rear of 
the church. Great crowds assembled around the stake, extending to the 
Plaza of San Hipolito, or sat upon the arches of the aque.duct as a better 
point of view. Another burning place for minor crimes, like murder and 
highway robbery, was in the Plaza de San Lazaro, but the principal brazero 
was at the south end of the Alameda. 

The reign of terror of the Inquisition continued till 1812. the year of 
the adoption of the Liberal constitution in Spain, and on the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, 1813, the Inquisition was suppressed by the Spanish Corte? in Spain, 



119 

Mexico and the Spanish colonies, promulgated in Mexico on the 8th of June 
following, by the Viceroy's proclamation, declaring the property of the tri- 
bunal confiscated and ordering the removal from the Cathedral of the tablets on 
which were inscribed the names of the victims. 

When Ferdinand VII. regained the throne of Spain the Inquisition re- 
turned to power and took possession of its property — which in Mexico was 
on the 2ist of January, 1814 — but it was short lived. The last atito de fe was 
the execution of the patriot Morelos on the 26th of November, 1815 — the 
charge was that "the Presbitero Jose Maria Morelos is an unconfessed heretic, 
an abettor of heretics, and a disturber of the ecclesiastical hierarchy; a pro- 
faner of the holy sacraments ; a traitor to God, the King and the Pope" — 
and this great soldier, patriot and Christian was condemned, beforehand, to 
"do penance in a penant's dress — and was delivered to his executioners. He 




CHURCH AND PLAZA DE SANTO DOMINGO. 

was shot December 22d, 181 5. The Liberal constitution of Spain was revived 
in March, 1820, and in May of that year the Inquisition was suppressed in 
Mexico as the last place of its existence, but its judges escaped justice, the 
fanatics that had thrown down the Aztec altars of human sacrifice, and visited 
a vengeance upon the barbarian judges, lived through their generations to 
commit deeds more cruel, for it was in His name they judged. 



120 

Protestatitistii is not modern in Mexico and strange to say it came 
there first from Spain. In 1770 the liturgy of the Gothic Christians of Spain 
was published. It was the Mazarabic Liturgy that was in use before the 
liturgy of the Roman Church was introduced into Spain, introduced into 
New Spain under the auspices of the then Archbishop of Mexico, Francisco 
Antonio Lorenzana, and the then Bishop of Puebla, Francisco Fabian y 
Fuero. This was the first step toward the introduction of Protestantism. In 
1868 a decisive move was made by the Protestants of the United States and 
in 1869 the Church of Jesus in Mexico was organized and prospered under 
its first Bishop, Henry C. Riley, ordained by the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
of the United States. 

Aid was extended by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States 
and by the Church of England, and some of the finest church buildings of 
Mexico were obtained for the use of the Protestants, notably those of San 




A LONE WORSHIPER. 

Francisco and San Jose de Garcia, but recently resold to the Catholics. 

The Presbyterians and Congregationalists commenced their work in 1872 with 
stations in most of the large cities, securing also some interesting old churches. 

The Methodists began in 1873 and have prospered till there are circuits 
in the various states of the Republic. The Baptists came later, establishing 
churches and schools throughout the country. 

1 he \. M. C. A. in Mexico is flourishing; a new building is under way. 

The Society of Friends have also made some progress in Mexico 

Protestant Churches— Trinity Methodist Episcooal Church, situated at 
No. 5 Gante Street and opposite the west entrance to the Hotel Iturbide, was 
built upon the site and remodeled out of a portion of the historic convent of 
San Francisco, wherein for a time lay the remains of Cortes. 

Services are held in the English language by the pastor and in Spanish 
by the pastor of the ^Mexican congregation. Each have separate and com- 



121 

tnodious auditoriums. The pastors' residences are also in the building, as 
is also that of the presiding elder of the district, who is the official representa- 
tive of the M. E. Missions in the Republic of Mexico. The M. E. Mission press 
rooms are also under the same roo"f and doing excellent work for the cause, 
printing and distributing annually over four million pages pertainmg to mission 
work. Their weekly family paper, the ''Abogado Cristiano," is a credit to the 
society and in "make up" not excelled by many elsewhere. 

The adherents of the Baptist denomination hold services in Spanish in a 
very neat and commodious modern-style building on the corner of Mina and 
Humboldt Streets. The parsonage adjoins the same. The pastor, with an 
assistant, conducts the services. The Baptist Society have also their own press 
rooms, issuing a family paper printed in Spanish and other literature devoted 
to the interests of their society. 

The Union Evangelical Society (undenominational) hold services in a very 
comfortably appointed church of their own at No. 50 Humboldt Street. Pres- 
byterian Church on Sixth Nuevo Mexico Street, No. 116. This society has 
also a well-equipped printing establishment and are doing a vast amount of good 
in reaching the people through their publications, among which is an excellent 
family paper, the ''El Faro" (the beacon or light-house). 

English services are held in Christ Church (Episcopal), half block south of 
the corner of Bucareli and Nuevo Mexico streets. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church South hold services in the church in 
Avenida Balderas, No. 3. As is the case with the Methodist and Presbyterian 
Societies, this society disseminates a vast amount of printed matter from its 
society press rooms. 

St. Bridget's Church, for English Catholics, is on the first street of San 
Juan de Letran, and at San Lorenzo 1st Calle de San Lorenzo. 

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cinco de Mayo 6. 

Services in German are held weekly under the auspices of the Lutherans. 

An idea of the inroads Protestantism is making in this country may be 
derived from the fact that the first evangelical work attempted in this country 
vras only about thirty years ago. the pioneer missionary being Miss Matilda 
Rankin, of Illinois, but not until eighteen seventy-two was missionary work 
organized, so that it may be said that there has been but thirty years of evan- 
gelistic work to produce the following : Centers of operation, 95 ; congregations, 
over 700; ordained missionaries, 80; assistant foreign missionaries, 70; foreign 
ladies in mission schools, 75. Total number of foreign workers, 215. Native 
ordained men, 125; native unordained men, 175; native teachers, 180; other help- 
ers, 100. Total native workers, 580; total number of foreign and native workers, 
795. Number of communicants, 22,000. Epworth Leagues and Christian En- 
deavor Societies, 216; members of the same, 6,943. Number of Sabbath Schools, 
379; Sabbath School scholars, 13,562. Children in schools, 12,000. Total 
Protestant community, about 80,000. 

English services are held periodically in the following places : Chihuahua. 
Aguascalientes, Silao, Guadalajara, Puebla, Pachuca, El Oro, San Luis Potosi, 
Monterey and other cities. 

AROUND THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 

Chapul tepee —In all the lovely Valley of Anahuac, none of the hills 
cluster so many beauties as cling to Chapultepec, the beautiful Hill of the 
Grasshopper, where, the legends say, under the grateful shades of the giant 
ahuehuetls, was the home of Montezuma and the Aztec tsms. When the 
summer days were long they came from old Tenochtitlan, over the long cause- 



122 




way, the Emperor, in palan- 
quin borne, the first in the 
royal pageant, with the 
princess attended by plumed 
and feathered warriors, and 
sat them down to rest ere 
they commenced the climb 
of rugged rocks. Attend- 
ing slaves rested too their 
waving fans, when the cool- 
ing zephyrs from the trees 
fell more softly on the mon- 
arch's brow, till, less lan- 
guid now, before the ascent 
began to be half-way done, 
the Aztec lord one day left 
his palanquin, when he had 
bade its carriers put it 
down, and entered a cavern 
that is there ; and while the 
tsins waited his return they 
c5 heard his voice from the 
a rocks high above them, and 
H it seemed their king was a 
3 very god, since none knew 
< but Montezuma how to pass 
o thus, through the earth from 
u. the valley to the hill-top, and 
° all the people shouted in ad- 
J oration of their "fair god." 
w It is in the legends that 
o the palace of the Montezu- 
mas was on the Hill of the 
Grasshopper, called Chapul- 
tepec, and here the Spanish 
Viceroy, Don Matias de 
Galvaez, commenced in 1783, 
and his son Don Bernardo 
completed in 1785, the pal- 
ace that stands there to-day, 
but since each recurring vic- 
eroy, emperor and president 
has proceeded further with 
its completion, adding, each 
one, to its size and cost, 
until it is now a palace in- 
deed, the home of the Pres- 
ident of Mexico and the 
seat of the National Mili- 
tary Academy. 

The site is a superb 
one, reached by a winding 
carriage road on one side 



123 






,^»*%, 



and a steep foot-path on another, while the other sides are precipitous, with 
almost perpendicular cliffs. The carriage road and foot-path from the gates 
end at the broad esplanade at the top, where the sentinels of the cadet corps 
are always on guard, and beyond which guard there is no passing, except by 
permit from the Governor of the National Palace. The card of the Governor 
is not taken up by the guard, as it is necessary to present it to the attendant 
in charge to gain admittance to the palace. The view from the esplanade is 
beautiful indeed. Tacubaya, almost hidden by trees, is in the middle dis- 
tance, and beyond, on the rising hills, other towns and villages; and still be- 
yond the mountains are the great snow-capped peaks of Popocateptl and 
Ixtaccihuatl. If you agree that the vista from the esplanade is very beauti- 
ful, pass through the garden to the overhanging gallery on the other side, 
and look out over the broad spreading plain of the valley. To the right is 
the field of Churubusco, and far- 
ther on to the east sheltering moun- 
tains. In front, the magnificent city, 
with its hundreds of towers, the 
tallest overshadowing all the others, 
are the Cathedral's. Beyond the city's 
spreading squares you can see the hill 
and church of Guadalupe. Following 
the range of vision round to the left 
there is the suburb of Tacuba, the hill 
of Los Remedios; and nearer to 
where you stand is the battleground 
of Molino del Rey. The magnificence 
of the picture baffles all description; 
it is wondrous to behold, and the 
memory of it lives with you always. 
Far below your feet the tall cypress- 
like trees shade the modest monu- 
ment erected to the memory of the 
cadets who fell in the defense of the 
castle from the assaulting Americans 
in '47. The names on the shaft tell 
of those whose lives went out in the 
merciless fire of a superior army. A 
monument was not needed except in 
their honor, for the memory of these 
brave boys lives in the hearts of their 
countrymen. There are fresh beau- 
ties in this hanging garden filled 

with pretty flowers, in the galleries, cadets- monument-chapultepec. 

adorned in Pompeiian color, but these do not detain, — there is too 
much grandeur in the view, — and you wander again to the terrace and 
gaze over the valley to the blue rim of the mountains melting into the lighter 
blue of the sky, and are loth to leave even for the magnificence of the in- 
terior of this splendid palace. 

The salons and apartments of the Castle of Chapultepec have the appoint- 
ments of regal magnificence, since they are in heritage from the Viceroys of 
olden times and a latter-day Emperor; and the luxurious beauty of the 
decorations is due to none more than "poor Carlotta," though all that was 
indicative of the empire has disappeared, and the monogramed "R. M." ap- 
pears everywhere to remind you that it is the palace of the Republic of Mexico. 




124 



In an ante-room at the corner of the esplanade are two chairs that be- 
longed to Cortez, but there is little else of more ancient date than Maxi- 
milian. The family rooms of the President consist of a magnificent suite, 
reception room, boudoir, bed chambers, dining hall, smoking and card rooms, 
all sumptuously furnished and elegantly decorated, each in appropriateness 
and good taste. A stairway leading to the upper floors has on the surround- 
ing walls the coats of arms of ail the rulers of Mexico from the Toltec tsins 
of 1474 to the republic of to-day. If you have passed up this stairway and 
out to the terrace and garden above, you may reach the esplanade again by a 
grand stairway of marble. It is not easy to advise how to go or which way 
to turn, since there is something to interest at every step, and when you 
have passed through the salons, galleries, gardens, along the terrace, ex- 
amined the National Observatory, looked into the well that drops down to 
the cave, you will still not be ready to go, for there has been so much in the 
view that it is hard to grasp it all, even for memory's sake. In the bosque 
below is a magnificent park shaded by trees that were giants even in Monte- 
zuma's time. Here are walks and drives in miles of shady way, where, in 

passing, you may see 
Montezuma's tree, 
where he, too, like 
Cortez, sat down and 
wept over defeat; see 
the hieroglyphics on 
the rocks of the cliffs 
under the castle, near 
the Cadets' monu- 
ment, and the cave 
that opens on the 
driveway up the hill. 
There is little left of 
the old aqueducts 
built by the Spanish 
viceroys, save a few- 
arches, and the old 
aqueduct built by the 
Aztecs has long since 

THE LETTER WRITERS ,N THE PORTALES. disappeared. It is bcSt 

; to go to Chapultepec 

by carriage, as the walk up the hill is a tiresome one, and the walk is neces- 
sary if the trip is made in the Tacubaya cars, although they pass the gate of 
the park and very near the castle. Entrance to the palace is impossible with- 
out a permit. 

About half way up the hill on the left of the carriage road is the cave that 
connects with the shaft whose top is in the garden of the palace— the pretty 
story of Montezuma's disappearance into this cave and re-appearance on the 
rocks above is prosaically modernized by a paved way through the cave and 
an elevator in the shaft. 

Moliiio del Rey, the field of the battle of September 28th. 1847, is near 
Chapultepec, and may be seen from the palace terrace. The field may be 
reached by horse-cars connecting with the Tacubaya line, or by train over 
the Mexican Central Ry., Cuernavaca division, from Buena Vista in the City 
The battle of Molino del Rey has been declared by General Gra^iit to have 
been one of the unnecessary battles of an unholy and unjust war. 

Churubttsco, another of the engagements during the siege of the Mexi- 




125 

can capital by the Americans, was fought August 20th, 1847, under the Amer- 
ican Generals Smith, Worth and Twiggs. A gallant defense was made by 
the commander of the Mexican forces. General Don Pedro Maria Anaya, who 
in answer to an inquiry by General Twiggs after the battle as to the where- 
abouts of the ammunition, gallantly replied: "Had I any ammunition, you 
would not be here." A monument commemorative of the battle is in the 
village plaza. 

In Aztec times the city of Huitzilopocho, with its temple to the god 
Huitzilopochtli, stood on the site of the now straggling village of Churubusco. 
The old city had a bad name as the abode of evil spirits and demons that 
made night hideous with their bowlings, but when the monks built a 
temple to the true gods the demons of Huitzilopochtli vanished. The Church 
of Santa Maria de los Angeles, the name also of the primitive church, was 
completed in 1678, May 2d, under the patronage of Don Diego del Castillo, 
a silver merchant, and his wife Dona Helena de la Cruz, whose images carved 
in wood are still preserved in the church. Although almost a ruin, the 
church is one of the most interesting in Mexico, and there are still re- 
mains of its former great beauty. The pretty decorations of tiles are rap- 
idly disappearing, and the richly carved organ is falling into decay. There 
are several curious pictures, among which is a fine Assumption of the Vir- 
gin. Take Tlalpam cars, and change at San Mateo or the cars for San Angel 
to reach Churubusco. 

Mixcoac — • is a village of flowers and — bricks. The beautiful flowers of 
the market in the city nearly all come from the gardens of Mixcoac, as do the 
best brick used in the city houses. La Castaiieda is a place of picnics and 
fiestas in Mixcoac, and is much frequented by pleasure parties from the city. 
Take San Angel cars from Tacubaya and ride south about a mile. 

San Angel— is a place of summer resorts of many wealthy citizens of the 
capital, who have their casas de recreo here among the gardens and orchards, 
now very much neglected. The old church and monastery of Our Lady of 
Carmen is very interesting, the site for which was given in 1613 by Don Felipe 
de Guzman to the Carmelite Brothers. The architect was Fray Andres de 
San Miguel, one of the first artists of his day. The building was commenced 
in 1615 and completed two years later. The beautiful tiled domes and the 
towers are well preserved, although some of the interior beauties are spoiled 
by renovation. The church was dedicated to San Angelo Martir, from which 
the town received its name. In 1633 the dedication was changed to Santa 
Ana, in honor of a wealthy and very charitable lady, Dofia Ana Aguilar y 
Nino. The gardens and orchards were once very extensive, now only a tan- 
gled forest of brush and decaying trees. The view from the towers is very 
fine, overlooking the surrounding gardens and the valley. Take cars for 
Tacubaya, and thence to San Angel or take Tlalpam cars, and change to the 
cross-country line at San Mateo. 

Coyoacan — was once the capital of Mexico and is older than the City of 
Mexico, since Cortez established the seat of government here August 17th, 
1521, and from Coyoacan laid out the plans and directed the founding of the 
city, and here were the feasts celebrating the victories of the Conquest. On 
the north side of the plaza stands the house in which the Conqueror lived for 
many days with La Marina, his faithful guide and interpreter. The coat of 
arms of Cortez is over the doorway. Near this house is another with a 
garden, where Cortez also dwelt, and in the garden a well in which he 
drowned his wife, who lies beneath the cross on the mound in a near-by 
church-yard. The Church of San Juan Bautista was built in 1583, founded 
at the same time with the Dominican monastery in 1530 by Fray Domingo 



126 

de Vetanzos. The stone cross on the mound in the church-yard was placed 
there by Cortez. 

The Pedregal, or "stony place," is within a short walk of Coyoacan, south- 
ward on the road that runs in front of the Church of San Juan Bautista. A 
picturesque place with stone houses, cactus-hedged paths and clear running 
streams. Coyoacan is reached by street-cars from Tacubaya, or from San 
Mateo, on the Tlalpam line. 

Tacubaya is the prettiest place in the Valley of Mexico, with its beauti- 
ful gardens, parks and shaded streets, lovely flowers and luxuriant trees 
everywhere, so that it is no wonder that here is the place of the summer 
homes of the wealthiest people in the Mexican capital. The location of the 




EL SALTO DE AGUA, CITY OF MEXICO. 



iittle city, on the slope of the hills back of Chapultepec, is 59 advantageous 
that it was contemplated at one time, after the great inundation of the City 
of Mexico in 1629 and '34, to make this the site of the national capital. At 
that time Tacubaya was called Atlacoloayan, the "place in the bend of the 
stream;" but after its settlement by the Spaniards it became known as Tacu- 
baya de los Martires. 

The principal church is that of San Diego, but the parish church and the 
old monastery of the Dominicans are worthy of a visit. The one-time palace 
of the Archbishop of Mexico was afterwards used as the National Astronomical 
Observatory. The palace was built in 1737 by the Archbishop and Viceroy 
Vizarron. Before its removal to Chapultepec the National Military Academy 
occupied this palace. 



127 




The Alameda and the Plaza de 
Cartagena are pretty places, with 
trees, flowers and fountains. In the 
west part of the city are the quaint 
old mills of Santo Domingo, and 
near them the Arbol Benito, "the 
blessed tree." The story goes that a 
monk passing that way was wearied 
and so rested was he under the 
grateful shade that he blest the tree 
and bade it be always green. Im- 
mediately there came from its roots 
a spring of cold clear water. That 
this is true, you may see that the tree 
is ever green, and the brook goes 
on forever. Tacubaya has been 
called the Monte Carlo 
of Mexico, and not in- 
aptly so. There was 
gambling there by 
gamblers of all sorts, 
sizes, ages and condi- 
tions, on the streets, 
under the white um- 
brellas, in booths under 
the trees, where you 
may wager a penny or 
a peso. In the gardens 
were games that savor of Monte Carlo indeed. There were tables for Monte, 
Rouge et Noir, or any other you please. The tables were crowded all the 
time, particularly in the evening, when the stakes were high, as much as 



Ji^jsnt^jsii^ii^. 



THE ALAMEDA, 




X^M B Kx j^ ^ KS"\ ^v^v^'^ 



twenty and thirty thousand silver dollars were on the tables at one time. 
There are dozens of rooms in one garden, for games, refreshment, music and 
dancing, while the gardens are lighted with many colored lights that make 
the scene one of enchantment. Bull fights and cock fig-hts are the other at- 



128 




tractions that go to entertain in this intensely interesting town. 
Two or three lines of cars start from the Plaza Mayor in the 
city for Tacubaya. 

Tialpatn — is an attractive little 
city of the valley toward the 
southeast at the end of the pleas- 
ant ride on board electric cars 
of the Valley road, the cars start- 
ing from the Plaza Mayor passing 
to the outskirts of the city, thence 
over the plain to Tlalpam. In the 
old days when Tlalpam rejoiced in 
the name of San Agustin de las 
Cuevas, it was the place of a great gambling 
fiesta, where every year fashionable folks came 
to try their luck around the wheels of fortune 
and become the prey of the less aristocratic 
gambler; the fiestas became so disreputable that 
they were for a time suppressed, but finally re- 
vived, and the old-time gaiety prevailed. Tlalpam 
was once the capital of the State of Mexico be- 
fore the seat of government was removed to 
Toluca and this city included in the Federal 
District. The streets are straight ?md run at 
right angles, thanks to the erratic but ener- 
getic Viceroy Revillagigedo, who, in 1794, instituted many improvements, 
including a water supply. The streets are shaded by great trees and over the 
walls come the creeping vines to tell of the pretty gardens 
beyond them. It is a quaint old town where some hours may 
be spent in seeking out its beauties, and you may find some 
ruined places like that of the Oratorio, up the street from the 
station two or three squares, where a peon's hut is built in 

the walls of a one-time temple; 
the thatched adobe is in strange 
contrast with the graven walls and 
graceful arches of this relic of de- 
parted grandeur. A delightful 
day's outing may be made to the 
HP»^4A towns^in the south of the valley 
l^^flB — take the cars for Tacubaya, 
"^^B^ where the first stop may be made. 
^^ then take the cross country line, 
one car at Mixcoac to visit the Tivoli de 
; the next stop should be at San 
hour; two hours may be spent at 
at Churubusco, and two at Tlalpam, 
the Valley railroad in the afternoon, 
direct to the Plaza Mayor. 
- is a pretty suburb that was a city 
in itself in the old Aztec days when 
Totoquiyauhtzin I, Chimalpopoca, Toto- 
quinyautzin II and Tetlepanquetzahzin 
were kings and held their capitals at Tlaco- 
pan, as the ancient city was called. These 




run 
Tacttba- 



129 



kings reigned in succession from 1430 to 1525; the latter named tsin was exe- 
cuted with Cuautimotzin by Cortez in 1525 for an alleged conspiracy against 
the Spaniards. 

Tacuba has many gardens and pleasant places; it has a fine old church and 
is the place of the residence of the Archbishop of Mexico. Street cars marked 
Tacuba (not Tacubaya) leave the Plaza Mayor every fifteen or twenty min- 
utes, passing by the Tree of JiQ£jie.JIxiste^ making a very pleasant street-car 
ride to consume not iiTdre than two or three hours. Popotla, also on this line, 
is the intervening suburb between the city and Tacuba where flourishes that 
tree of the dismal night, under whose shadow Cortez sat down and wept over 
his misfortunes and defeat. The tree is an ahuehuetl, of that kind found in the 
park of Chapultepec. a cypress-like tree found in many parts of Mexico. 
The famous tree is still in vigorous life, notwithstanding the onslaughts of 
relic-hunters, from which it is protected now by a high iron railing, that is 
also a defense against 
the fury of the fanatic 
who some years ago 
set fire to the trunk. 
Popotla in the native 
tongue means "the 
place of the brooms." 

Atzcapotzalco had 
such a multitude of in- 
habitants that it re- 
ceived this unpro- 
n o u n c e a b 1 e name, 
which means the * 'ant- 
hill." The kingdom of 
Atzcapotzalco antedates 
the Conquest by many 
years: in fact it ceased 
to be an independent 
kingdom nearly a hun- 
dred years before the 
Spaniards came; when, 
in 1428, the kings of 
Tenochtitlan and Tex- 
coco made war on 
Maxtla. the tsin of Atz- 
capotzalco, slew him and divided the kingdom, placing Netzahualcoyotl, 
the rightful heir, on the throne in the realm of Texcoco and giving 
Atzcapotzalco to Tenochtitlan, a part of which went to the tsin of Tlacopan. 

The ancient capital has dwindled to a village whose inhabitants are pot- 
ters and vendors of vessels, and on the site of the old temple are the towers 
and domes of a Christian church; one of the towers has the graven image of 
an immense ant in memory of the great population of the bygone city. The 
church was erected by the Dominicans in 1702. 

There are many legends that hang about the name of this old town, so 
that a book might be written to tell them all. Nearby is the village of Zan- 
copinca, and near that a ruined aqueduct and little lake of pure water, where, 
m a crystal palace under the waters, dwells Malintzi half of each day, the other 
half being spent in the spring of Chapultepec, where she is a good fairy, but 
here a very siren that lures men to the depths of the lake, where they disap- 
pear forever. The songs of this siren are passing sweet as they are heard in 




AN AHUEHUETL. 



130 




the early morning or in the evening, when it is dangerous to come near to the 
water, as he who stops to listen is lured to a permanent disappearance by the 
music and the spirit's entrancing beauty; he who lingers 
is lost, a feeling of exquisite languor dulls his delighted 
senses, he is irresistibly drawn into the depths by the 
beckoning hand of beauty and is lost to the world forever. 
It may be that this fate deters the seekers for the treas- 
ures of Cuautemoctzin that the Indians 
aver were thrown into this lake. Another 
legend has its place in the open plain 
west of the monastery under the shade of 
the five great ahuehuetls, where in olden 
times was a spring that constantly welled 
up, but never overflowed — to drink these 
waters meant disappearance forever. The 
holy fathers came with the image 
of the Virgin, in procession, and 
preached against the spring, and the 
people cast stones into it, until it 
was covered up and hidden from the 
sight of men, so that no one could 
drink of its waters, and a chapel 
with a shrine to the Virgin was built 
over it, that has long since fallen 
down and crumbled away; but he 
who will come to the ahuehuetls, 
and will hold his ear close to the 
ground, may hear the murmuring 
..-. waters underneath the ground. The 

legend lives in the proverb: ''Bebi&del agua de los ahuehuetls^''' as applied 
to a sudden or mysterious disappearance: "He drank of the water of the 
ahuehuetls." f;-^^ 

El Desierto is not, or wa§;-not when it was so named, a desert; on the 
contrary, a group of gardens of-, fruits and flowers in and about an ancient' 
monastery where lived a company of Carmelite Brothers, of which Thomas 
Gage, a Dominican monk, says: "It is the pleasantest place of all about 
Mexico, called 'La Soledad,' and by others El Desierto, the solitary or desert 
place and wilderness. Were all wildernesses like it, to live in a wilderness 
would be better than to live in a city. This hath been a device of poor Fry- 
ers, named discalced or barefooted Carmelites, who, to make show of their 
hypocriticall and apparent godlinesse, and that whilest they would be thought 
to live like Eremites, retired from the world, they may draw the world" to 
them; they have built there a stately cloister, which being upon a hill and 
among rocks, makes it to be more admired. About the cloister they have 
fashioned out many holes and caves in, under and among the rocks, like Ere- 
mites lodgings, with a room to lie in, and an oratory to pray in, with pictures 
and images, and rare devices for mortification as disciplines of wyar, rods of 
iron, hair-cloths girdles with sharp wyar points to girdle about their bare 
flesh, and many such like toyes, which hang about their oratories, to make 
people admire their mortified and holy lives. All these Eremeticall holes and 
caves (which are ten in number) are within the bounds and compasse of the 
cloister and among orchards and gardens of fruits and flowers, which may 
take up two miles in compasse; and here among the rocks are many springs 
oi water, which with the shade of the plantins and other trees are most cool 



131 

and pleasant to the Eremites; they have also the sweet smell of the roze and 

jazmin, which is a little flower, but the sweetest of all others; there is not any 
other flower to be found that is rare and exquisite in that country which is 
not in that wildernesse to delight the senses of these mortified Eremites." 

But — Mr. Gage's description applies to other days; it is indeed a solitary 
place and a wilderness now, with its ruins and caves, but withal interesting, 
and well worthy of a visit notwithstanding the hard journey which must be 
made on horseback from the city or by cars to Santa Fe and thence by burros 
or horses. 




EL DESIERTO. 

La -Piedad, beyond the Garita de Belen, is the place of the church and 
monastery of Nuestra Seiiora de la Piedad, founded by the Dominicans in 
1562, and the church was built in the fulfillment of a vow to the Virgin by a 
monk and his companions on board a well-nigh shipwrecked vessel that if 
she would bring them safely to land they would build a temple in her honor. 

A monk of the brotherhood of Santo Domingo in Rome had received an 
order for a picture of the Virgin and the dead Christ to be painted by the best 
Roman artist, and when he came to depart for Mexico the artist had only 
made a drawing of the subject, but it was taken on board in its unfinished 
state and the voyage entered upon. A great storm came up and they prayed 
to the Virgin to save them, and their prayers were answered — the greater 
miracle was in the picture — when it was opened in Mexico, behold, it was 
finished in all its beautiful colorings. The wonderful picture hangs to-day 
where it did on the day of the dedication, February 2, 1652, over the main 



138 

altar of the church of La Piedad. Among the other pictures is a very curious 
one representing the storm-tossed sea that was stilled by the Virgin. There 
are some paintings by Cabrera and Velasquez and other native artists. 

Take cars on the Plaza Mayor marked La Piedad. 

Tlaluepatitla is a primitive town near to a modern city, a town noted 
more for its bull-fights than its other attractions, but the trip thither is 
one of interest since the route of the street car lines that start from the 
Plaza JMayor in the city pass through the outlying villages that are all in- 
teresting. The old church of Tlalnepantla bears date of 1583 and 1587 over the 
side doors, probably the dates of the foundation and dedication — the other 
dates, 1609 and 1704, in the walls, do not give further information; the 
church remains in its primitive state, not having been tarnished by the reno- 
vating hand of modern restorer. 

Tajo de Nocliistotigo, the great drainage canal, the mosi ambitious 
engineering feat of its time, was planned by Senor Don Enrico Martinez to 
drain the waters of Zumpango, the highest of the lakes of the Valley, and 
prevent their overflow into Texcoco, Chalco and Xochimilco and the conse- 
quent inundation of the City of Mexico; the original idea was to sink the 
drain sufficiently to carry off the overflow of all the lakes, but this was 
abandoned on account of its great expense. 

Operations commenced November 28th, 1607, with fifteen thousand Indians 
engaged in sinking shafts at intervals and working tunnels in both directions, 
so that when the conduit was finished it was one long tunnel instead, of a 
canal, as it now is, and before a year had passed this tunnel was more than 
four miles long, with a width of eleven feet by thirteen feet in height. The 
walls of the tunnel were of adobe, faced with stone, and all on insecure foun- 
dations; it caved in in several places, and in order to repair the work Mar- 
tinez ordered the mouth of the tunnel closed, or, as has been stated, the 
engineer took this method of proving to his enemies the value of his work, 
as the success of it had been questioned by many. 

The test came in June, 1629. The rainy season had set in with great vio- 
lence and the waters from the lakes overflowed till the entire city except the 
Plaza Alayor was three feet under water. The flood came in a night, but did 
not subside until five years later, in 1634. The streets became canals and 
traffic was carried on in boats. Many lives were lost, foundations were 
destroyed and buildings toppled, until finally a royal order was issued by Spain 
to remove the city to the slopes between Tacuba and Tacubaya. but unfor- 
tunately the order was not carried out. An exceptionally dry season followed 
the flood, earthquakes cracked the earth and let the water into the depths, 
and the city was permitted to remain on its original site. 

JMartinez had been imprisoned as the cause of the great inundation, but 
was released with orders to make the city secure against a recurrence of the 
disaster. He opened the tunnel and repaired the dyke of Lake San Cristo- 
bal — there were two dykes protecting against these waters, one nearly three 
miles long and the other about two, about ten feet high and thirty feet thick. 

The walls of the tunnel continued to fall in and the city was threatened 
with another deluge at the return of the rainy season. It was finally decided 
to open the conduit and make a canal of it; the work progressed slowly and 
it was more than a hundred years before it was completed by a syndicate of 
merchants termed a Consulada, in 1767 to 1789. The canal is from three to 
seven hundred feet wide at the top, sloping to a few feet at the bottom to 
prevent caving in. The perpendicular depth is from 150 to 200 feet; the 
length from the sluice from the lake to the fall, El Salto del Rio Tula, is 67,S37 
feet. 



133 

The Tajo commences near the village of Huehuetoca, twenty-nine miles 
north of the city on the Mexican Central, and the tracks of that railway run 
along the eastern slope enjoying the distinction of the greatest "cut" of the 
world, certainly the oldest one, as this great work commenced as a waterwa}^ 
in 1607, used nearly three hundred years later as a railway entrance to the 
Valley of Mexico, and its former uses abandoned since the national government 
built the tunnel through the eastern mountains and drained the overflow in 
that direction. In the corner of the garden in front of the Cathedral in the 
Plaza Mayor a monument is erected to the memory of the great engineer of 
the Tajo, Don Enrico Martinez. The shaft shows the level of the lakes and 
statistics of the inundation. Unless a closer inspection of the Tajo is desired 
a fine view may be had from the west windows of passing trains, the right- 
hand side going to the city or the left going north. A day excursion to Tula or 
Pachuca via the Central, leaving the city in the morning and returning in the 
evening, will afiford ample opportunity to see the great Tajo de Nochistongo. 

The Drainage Canal, a stupendous work of modern engineering, 
drains the lakes of the plain and valley of Mexico and provides a sanitary 




TAJO DE NOCHISTONGO. 

sewerage for the city, completed at a cost of more than $12,000,000. It is an 
open canal to the rim of mountains, then a tunnel to the lower plain. Reached 
in an hour by trains of the Mexican or the Hidalgo Rys. As has been said 
the Tajo de Nochistengo was not intended to drain the Valley and City of 
Mexico but to prevent overflow from the higher level lakes — this new one is a 
drainage canal that drains. 

Pyramids of fhe Sun and Moon of the prehistoric times are near the 
village of San Juan Teotihuacan, about twenty-seven miles east of the city on 



134 

Mexican (Vera Cruz) Railway. Nothing is known of the origin of these pyra- 
mids, thanks perhaps to the destruction by the Spaniards of the picture records 
of the Aztecs and Toltecs, and as these people knew nothing, or would tell 
nothing, their history must forever go unwritten; besides, nothing in the 
excavations or relics found lends any light on the subject. 

From the trains the pyramids seem insignificant enough, and only by 
near approach are the ambitious heights to be appreciated. The Pyramid of 
the Sun is 216 feet 8 inches high, having a base of 761 by 721 feet 7 inches, 
while the top is 59 by 105 feet. The Mocn is 150 feet it inches high, base 511 
by 426 feet 5 inches and 19 feet 8 inches square. All along the little Rio de 
Teotihuacan and over the plain are traces of a city, and remains of walls and 
fortifications, one of which is known as the Ciudadela, the citadel, an area 
inclosed by a wall over two hundred feet thick and thirty-two feet high. In 
the center of the square is a small pyramid, and on the wall of earth fourteen 
smaller pyramids. 

About over the plain are numerous pyramids, or mounds, as they seem 
to be now. Some openings have been made revealing in one case two large 
halls and several smaller rooms, in another some frescoed walls. These mounds 
may have been dwellings or shrines attached to the greater temples of the 
pyramids. The cornices and walls were beautifully ornamented in colors, 
ranging from ten to twenty shades or tints. 

The only entrance discovered in the greater pyramids is in that of the 
Moon, found some years ago, leading into a chamber whose walls are of cut 
stone and laid directly on the lines of the compass. A curious causeway, 
called "Calle de los Muertos" (Street of the Dead) begins near the Citadel, 
passes the Pyramid of the Sun and ends near the Pyramid of the Aloon. On 
either side is a terrace of cement and lava faced with a mortar of high polish 
and brightly colored. Along this Street of the Dead are many of the shrines or 
dwellings, some of which have been opened, revealing chests of cut stone con- 
taining skulls, bones and ornaments of obsidian, earthen vases and masks. Many 
of these ornaments of obsidian and miniature masks are found in the fields 
round about, giving rise to many theories as to their origin and uses, on which 
no two writers agree except that they prove the builders of the pyramids to be 
a race antedating the Toltecs or Aztecs. As to their uses, one theory is that 
these masks were portraits of the dead attached to bodies of perishable ma- 
terial, and, of course, long since disappeared, leaving only the earthen faces 
covered with the dust of centuries and now turned to light by the plowshare. 

Second only to the Ruins of Mitla, these pyramids are the most interesting 
remains in this part of Mexico. By taking the morning train of the Mexican 
(Vera Cruz) Railway for Teotihuacan a day may be spent at the pyramids, 
returning in the evening. 

Los Arcos de Zettipoala are on the Irolo and Pachuca branch of the 
Hidalgo road near the station of San Agustin, and may be seen also from 
the trains of the Mexican Ry's branch from Ometusco to Pachuca. The Arches 
of Zempoala support an aqueduct nearly forty miles long, crossing three valleys ; 
in the first there are 46 arches, the second 13 and in the third, which is most 
notable, there are yy covering over 3,000 feet, the highest arch is about 130 
feet from the ground to the apex, with a width of 65 feet at the base. Built over 
300 years ago, and long since abandoned, they are still in good condition in 
spite of earthquakes and the ravages of time and weather. Tt was the work 
of Fray Francisco Tembleque, a Franciscan of Otumba, to bring water to his 
town, and with the money of his neighbors and the help of the Indians he 



135 

completed the work in 17 years. Father Tembleqtie was designer, architect, 
contractor, overseer and boss workman — hence they stand as his monument, 
when perhaps his grave is forgotten, the wonder and admiration of later gener- 
ations. 

Texcoco, before and at the time of the Conquest, was the capital of the 
kingdom of Tezciicans, a race probably more advanced in civilization than the 
Aztecs, ruled at one time by the great Netzahualcoyotl, who may be called the 
King Solomon or the David of his race, or both, since he was a wise man 
and just, and wrote many psalms and songs the translations of which greatly 
resemble the psalms and songs of the Biblical kings. And the palace of Netza- 
hualcoyotl was of ancient magnificence ; in the courtyard, at opposite ends, were 
two halls of justice, one, called the "Tribunal of God," had a throne of pure 
gold inlaid with turquoise and other precious stones. Before the throne, on a 
heap of trophies, weapons, shields, bows, arrows and quivers, was a human 
skull crowned with an immense emerald in pyramidal form, surmounted by an 
aigrette of brilliant plumes and precious stones. 

The walls v/ere hung with a tapestry of the hair of wild animals of varied 
color and rich design, embroidered in birds and flowers, the hangings caught 
up in rings of gold. Above the throne was a canopy of variegated plumage 
from the center of which shot forth resplendent rays of gold and jewels The 
other tribunal, called "the Kings," also had a gorgeous canopy of feathers em- 
blazoned with the royal arms. The superior intelligence of these people and 
their education gave ancient Texcoco the title of the Athens of America, as 
Tenochtitlan was called its Rome. 

This was ancient Texcoco. Her glory has passed away and only ruined 
walls are left to tell of it, some pyramids to the north and one on the southern 
border of the town, and three miles west, near the village of Huixotla, an im- 
mense wall. When the Spaniards came the Tezcucans were in the throes of 
civil war among the descendants of Netzahualcotl, and, one faction becoming 
friends of Cortez, it was easy to make them allies as he had the Tlaxcalans, and 
as the Cholulans had been destroyed by massacre and there could be no attack 
in his rear, the Conqueror made Texcoco the base of operations against the 
Aztecs and their city of Tenochtitlan, and after he was driven out of that city 
by Guatimoctzin he returned to Texcoco to launch his bergantines that had 
been built at Tlaxcala, and from the canal over which may still be seen the 
Bridge of the Bergantines sailed away to lay siege to Tenochtitlan and effect 
his second entry to the Aztec capital. At Texcoco Cortez lived, at one of the 
times when he was in disfavor with the Spanish King, and here in one of the 
churches his bones were entombed and remained some years. The first Fran- 
ciscan Mission in Mexico was established in Texcoco by Fray Pedro de Gante ; 
the fine old church remains to-day. 

The present town is a pretty one, with its streets shaded by orange trees and 
is full of attractions for a day's outing, among which are excursions to the 
Molino de Flores, Tetzcotzinco, Cuautlenchan, the Hacienda of Chapingo, the 
estate of the late ex-president General Gonzales, and the Ruins of Huixotla. In 
the Plaza is a monument with a bust of Netzahualcoyotl, and on the corner of 
two of the main streets a fine fountain, surmounted by a statue of Hercules, 
the gift of Sefior Don Ruperto Jaspeado, an antiquarian of local renown. 

Molitio de Flores, the mill of the flowers, is a flour mill as well, but not 
the commonplace, barn-like structure we may have in our mind's eye from 
the country mills at home. Massive gates swing heavily on thick stone walls 



136 

and admit to what seems the court and gardens of a mediaeval castle; tortuous 
stairways of stone lead to the castle that is the summer home of the very 
ancient family of Cervantes, who have owned this bit of another world for 
some centuries. The garden might have been a part of Eden from its leafy 
trees, beautiful flowers and winding walks among foaming cascades and 
splashing iountains, caves and grottoes hollowed by Nature's hand, shad- 
owed by overhanging boughs where flowering vines fiave climbed, and around 
one grotto, in which there is a pool of clear water, among the flowers are 
some prickly cactus that guard all approaches, for this is the Cervantes' bath — 
here in the garden under the trees, shut in by flowery screens and waving ferns. 

Winding pathways paved with pebbles in variegated colors lead up and 
down the hillside and across the ravine where the cascades are, then over a 
rustic bridge to the family chapel. Some Moorish work around a cavern 
makes the shrine, three sides are Nature's own handiwork, human hands have 
only added a little belfry and the bells. In the chapel lie the departed Cervan- 
tes, in tombs of solid stone^ and in the unhewn walls are tablets in memoriam. 
Before the quaint little altar dimly burns a lamp that is never extinguished, 
throv/ing an uncertain light on the faded painting of the Crucifixion on the 
rock behind it. In an adjoining cavern dwells the hermit padre — this solemn 
little shrine is in strange contrast with the bit of fairyland in the gardens 
beyond. Molino de Flores is three miles from Texcoco. Admission to the 
gardens is by permit only, obtained from the "administrador" in the City. 

Tetzcotziiico, the "laughing hill," is three miles east of Texcoco and a 
mile south of the Molino de Flores. Here was a summer palace of Netza- 
hualcoyotl, the King of the Tezcucans. In the solid stone of the hili are 
terraced walks and stairways reaching in a winding way from the plane to the 
summit, nearly a hundred feet above it. Along the way, in places shaded 
by the clifTs, are seats cut in the rock. Near the top is the King's bath, also 
hewn in the stone of the hill; it is about five feet by three or it may have 
been a distributing reservoir, since the water came to it from the aqueduct 
above and passed on to the hanging gardens. Here is evidence of the engi- 
neering skill of the ancient races of Mexico; the water supply was brought to 
the Laughing Hill from the mountains nearly fifteen miles away, an aqueduct 
was on a graded side of the hill for nearly a mile, coming from another 
hill on an embankment seventy feet high and again from another hill nearly 
two miles distant, and thence the embankment continues twelve miles to the 
mountains. On the top of the grading was an aqueduct of cement and stone 
in the form of a tube about two feet in diameter, though the conduit is only 
ten inches. Remains of this wonderful work are still to be found. 

The Bosque of Contador, near Tetzcotzinco, is a fine grove of ahuehuetls 
and was a part of the summer capital. 

Cuautletichati, near the Molino de Flores, was probably the place of 
residence of a people older than the Texcucans, if we may judge from the relics 
found round about. 

This interesting section may be done in a day. but two would make the 
trip easier. Take the morning train of the Interoceanic Railway, starting 
from San Lazaro Station in the city. Stop at Texcoco. Thence the visits to 
Molino de Flores, Tetzcotzinco. Cuautlenchan and Huixotla must be made on 
horseback or in carriages, which may be obtained in Texcoco. 

La Viga Canal is a navigable water-way for traffic between the city and 
the outlying towns and villages on the shores of Lakes Chalco and Xochi- 
milco, flowing from those lakes to Lake Texcoco. and does not. as is popularly 
supposed, take in any drainage or sewerage from the city, the water coming 
from the south to the" eastern district of the city passes northeasterly to Lake 



137 

Texoco; it is a murky-looking water, but is not nearly so murky as it looks; 
taken up in the hand or vessel, it is as clear as it comes from the lake. The 
boats of La Viga are different from the boats of any other canal, and there 
are different styles of boats on La Viga, ranging from the dug-out canoe of 
the Chinampas to the flat-bottom freight boat propelled by poles in the hands 
of strong arms, a sort of armstrong motor, and side-wheel steamers of antiquated 
design. All classes carry passengers, with their donkeys and dogs, these latter 
being indispensable accompanists to the passenger, since each is an owner of 




LA VIGA. 



part of the cargo of wood, charcoal or garden truck, and must have the burro 
to make a delivery at the port of destination, and the dog— well, the dog just 
goes along from force of habit, or an innate aversion to being left behind, 
and alone, because the family comes to town with its head and the house is 
closed till they return. One of these long, low, rakish craft from the other 
shores of Chalco and Xochimilco is a sight to see, at once a freighter and a 
floating menagerie, as there are other live stock besides the dogs and donkeys, 
in the shape of goats, sheep, ducks, and chickens. The boats bring the provender 
for man and beast in a city of nearly half a million of people, and largely supply 
the city with fuel, the boats bringing it to the landing places and the burros 
making the delivery throughout the city. ^ _ 

But there are boats for passengers, and for tourists to Santa Anita, Mexi- 



138 

calcingo, San Juanico, Ixtacalco, and las chinampas, the floating gardens. 
These boats are a Mexican edition of the gondola, and with a Mexican gondo- 
lier in the bow, using a pole instead of a paddle. These gondolas are as 
picturesque in a way as the Venetian sort, not as graceful, perhaps, but sui 
generis, in a class of their own, a wide, flat bottom batteau, like an old-fash- 
ioned country ferryboat; there are low seats on each side running lengthwise, 
from end to end, under a canopy with gaudy-colored curtains. 

The usual La Viga voyage is to Santa Anita; the trip may be on the street 
cars that run along the banks of the canal ; this is the most expeditious way, 
but there is none of the novelty of the boat ride, and one must not be in a 
hurry in Mexico. It is best to take the cars on the Plaza Mayor marked 
La Viga, leaving them when they reach the canal at Embarcadero and go thence 
by boat ; the tariff of the boatmen varies, according to the number of boats in 
port, the demand therefor, and whether it is a week-day, Sunday or a feast 





"'' i 


r|-J5^c:^: '* ': -5-'-'-^ 




„g},|^i 


%M^^t^:^%h-: ■ ^ 


fe/:. ^- W _ % 







ENTRANCE TO THE FLOATING GARDENS. 

day, from fifty cents to a dollar, for a boat carrying ten or a dozen people, 
to Santa Anita and return, including the- stop there for a ride through the 
chinampas, or floating gardens, for which another and smaller boat must be 
taken and another fare of fifty to seventy-five cents be paid for each canoe 
carrying six or eight people. 

The start on the voyage does not impress favorably, but as it proceeds it 
grows interesting, especially after passing the Garita, where the municipal duties 
were collected from incoming freighters ; thence the wide, open canal is alive 
with queer little craft, the long, narrow canoes darting here and there among 
the larger ones, the little pleasure boats with their passengers squatted under the 
grass-woven canopies, and the larger boats coming from or going to Xochimilco 
and Chalco with their cargoes of men, women, children, burros, dogs, wood, 
charcoal and garden truck; then there are little bumboat canoes with dusky 
'"Little Buttercups" to come alongside your boat, with the cleanest-looking 
baskets covered with the whitest of drawn-work cloths, under which are the 
native sandwiches, tortillas, tamales, con came or con diilce, that, no matter 
how they may have seemed elsewhere, here look temptingl}' toothsome. Any 
day will do for the voyage to Santa Anita and much will be seen that you 
never saw before, but on a Sunday or a feast day there will be more life on 
the canal and in the villages. 

Santa Anita is a straggling village of thatched houses, a relic of primitive 
times almost under the shadow of the towers of the metropolitan city, a pleasure 
resort of the middle and lower classes, where every house is an open one, 
fonda, restaurant or pulque shop, with thatched bowers over the seats and 



139 

tables of the revellers. When your boat is anchored under a great tree at Santa 
Anita, go ashore and pass up the street from the canal to the little old church 
and beyond to a forlorn little plaza, where there are some swings 
and some more fondas and pulque shops, and you will find the canoes to take 
you through the sluices of the floating gardens. These gardens have no walks 
and must be floated through, which would entitle them to their name, even 
if they were not really floating gardens, as they were in the olden times when 
the chinampas grew the fruits and flowers for Montezuma and the Aztec tzins; 
now they are flower and vegetable beds to supply the city markets. It 
is worth the while of the trip if it were only to see the acres and 
acres of poppies, whence the natives garland themselves and their houses 
on feast days, and of which you may bring away a boat load for a real. On the 



••iMiiitf^^fafiff 




ZEMPOALA ARCHES. 

going or the return trip a stop should be made at the hacienda of 
Juan Corona. While he lived, Don Juan's house was yours; his was a hos- 
pitable roof, and it remains to-day in happy memory with open doors. Don 
Juan was a great man in his day, as valiant as he was good and charitable, 
not a soldier, nor yet padre or a missionary, his life was full of brave deeds 
and good works. Don Juan was a bull-fighter on Sundays and feast days, and 
a philanthropist all the week, as if he would make six days of charity balance 
his account of questionable sport on Sunday. His pleasure was the care of 
the children of the poor, till he was called the father of the destitute, when he 
established a school for his wards that is still maintained in one of the rooms 
of his house. The old Don's hobby was less of tauromachy than the collection 
of curios, and his house is a monument to the memory of that hobby, every 
room is a museum in itself. Pass through the open door; no invitation is 
needed, and there is none to stop your way. Within the patio of trees, flowers 
and climbing vines is a stone stairway leading to an upper gallery; the curios 



140 

commence on the stairway and continue through all the house. Pass around 
the gallery to the farther side of patio and enter through the kitchen, the 
quaintest, cleanest kitchen in the world; then through the dining-room, bed 
chamber and parlor, coming out again onto the gallery at the stairs, where you. 
may enter the school-room and see a school wholly unlike any other. As a 
visitor enters, the bright little beneficiaries of Corona's bounty rise in respect- 
ful salutation and welcome. The school has not the ample means it had in 
the life of good old Don Juan, and any offering is not only to a worth}'^ charity, 
but a tribute to the memory of a good man. 

It will take longer to see all in the quaint old house than to write it down, 
since it is impossible to do it completely. In the kitchen is the old-fashioned 
cooking-place built of brick, around it and on all the walls are the utensils 
of earthenware, as in the dining-room the table and its appurtenances are as 
quaintly curious. But it is in the other rooms where are the curios and relics, of 
every age and era of jMexico's history back to prehistoric times; idols from 
the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon at San Juan Teotihuacan; weapons, plumes, 
shields and war dresses of the Aztecs, a cigar case, pistol and sword of the 
patriot-priest Hidalgo; the bed in which General Santa Ana died; some pieces 
from the table service of the iimperor Maximilian and one of the muskets 
with which he was shot; the rifle of General Miramon used at Queretaro; a 
fine collection oi c/iicaras, chocolate cups painted by the Indians of Michoacan; 
very curious and ancient costumes of the bull-ring, among which is one used by 
the Spanish matador, Bernardo Gaviho, when he was killed in the ring at 
Texcoco; ancient Chinese and Japanese armor; paintings of religious subjects 
and scenes from the bull ring; portraits of Don Juan and his wife and of 
Mexican celebrities; a collection of bird eggs, stuffed animals, two immense 
bowls or platters with the portraits of jMaximilian and Carlotta; old tapestries 
and silken shawls; rugs of the skins of wild beasts, and a thousand and one 
other curious things collected in a long lifetime, of which no complete list or 
description may be made, but each article is in its place just as Don 
Juan left them when he died. No fees are charged nor any gratuities asked 
or suggested, but there is a contribution box, and there are none more worthy, 
since all the oft'erings are applied to the support of the school, and what you 
have seen in this old house is worth a generous gift. 

The journey on the canal may be continued to Ixtacalco and make a day of 
it; here are other floating gardens and a fine old church, San Matias, founded 
by the Franciscans more than three hundred years ago, in front of which is 
a pretty little plaza with a fountain of clear, cool watery near by is a shrine 
of Santiago, long since neglected as to religious uses, and now used as a 
dwelling. 

Mexicalcingo, a little further on, was an important town before the Con- 
quest, now only an Indian village with an ancient and ruined monastery and 
church dedicated to San Marco, also founded by the Franciscans. To make 
the journey thus far it will take a day, and a luncheon should be brought 
alcng. Only the more venturesome explorer will undertake the entire voyage 
to Xochimilco, two days, but it is intensely interesting and without actual 
hardship, though with some discomfort. The excursion to Ixtapalapa and the 
intermediate villages on La Viga may be made by horse cars, or we may go by 
boat and return by cars, but the round trip by boat is to be preferred. Cars 
start from the Plaza Mayor; look for those showing the names of the places 
you desire to visit; they will take you there and back again to the Plaza. 

Los Remedios. — About three miles west of the city's boundary is the Hill 
Totoltepec, on the top of which is the Santuary of Our Lady of Succor, called 



141 

the church of Nuestra Sefiora de los Remedies; its history and legend make 
an interesting story. 

On that dismal night of the ist of July, 1520, when the Spaniards were 
driven from Tenochtitlan by Cuautemoc and his infuriated warriors, the 
Spanish soldiers fled in all directions, but were gathered together in the Temple 
of Otoncapulco that was on the hill of Totoltepec. Among them was Juan 
Rodriguez de Villafuerte, who had in his keeping an image of the Virgin 
that he had brought from Spain, and which had been placed in a shrine on the 
great temple of the Aztecs among their gods. The checkered career of this 
image in Spain was not less adventurous after its arrival in Mexico; on the 
night of the terrible defeat it was carried by Villafuerte in his flight from the 




CHURCH OF GUADALUPE, NEAR CSTY OP MEXFCO. 

city, but himself being severely wounded, could carry it no farther; he hid the 
image under the broad spreading maguey, and went on his way. 

Nearly twenty years after, an Indian chief, Cequauhtzin, called also Juan de 
Aguila Tobar, was hunting on the hill of Totoltepec, when the Holy Virgin 
appeared to him in a vision and bade him seek for her image that was hidden 
beneath a maguey; the tzin made diligent search without success, and the 
Virgin again appeared with the same command; still it was not found, and 
she appeared yet the third time. After awhile the image was found and taken 
by Cequauhtzin to his house. In the morning it had disappeared, and was 
found again under the maguey where it had been. It was taken the second 
time to the Indian's home, and he placed before it a little gourd filled with 
dainty things to eat, but the image disappeared to the maguey. Again was 
it brought to the house and placed in a strong box, locked and bolted, and, 
to make matters doubly sure, the t:sin slept that night on the lid of the box, but 



142 



in the morning the box was empty and the image fled once more to the maguey/ 
on Totoltepec hill. 

Then came Cequauhtzin to the good padres of San Gabriel in Tacuba and 
told them of the apparitions, of the finding of the image and its subsequent 
disappearances, which to the holy fathers seemed at once that a miracle had 
been performed, and in the persistency of the image in returning to the hil) 
they discerned a command of the Virgin to build a temple in her honor on this 
Hill of Totoltepec where her image might rest in peace after all the stormy 
years of its existence. The shrine w^as commenced at once, and, shortly com- 
pleted, was dedicated to Our Lady of Succor, since the Spanish soldiers were 
saved through the saving of her image. Over the walls of the original chapel was 

built the existing church through the efforts of Don 
Garcia Albornos, a great church worker of Mexico, 
begun in May, 1574, and completed in August of the 
following year, though the dome and arched roof 
we-e not completed until over a hundred years had 
passed, when the church was finally dedicated on the 
25th of May, 1629, and seventy years after that Dr. 
Francisco Fernandez Marmolejo and his wife, Dofia 
Francisca de Sosa, brought an artist from Puebla to 
finish the caynarin they had caused to be built for 
the home of the image. The image is of wood, carved, 
, but now at its great age browned and disfigured; it 
\ is about eight inches long. Held in the arms of the 
Mmage is a figure of the Child Jesus, The ornaments 
I except some pearls, and all her rich vestments, have 
Hong since disappeared. The gourd in which Ce- 
i quauhtzin placed the delicacies before the image when 
f it was in his house is preserved in the shrine in a 
silken case; the gourd has been broken and is mended 
with clasps of iron and brass. The altar is not what 
it was once, with its ornaments of silver and gold, 
tinsel and baser metals have taken their place. The 
silver railings and the silver maguey with all the rich 
decorations disappeared under a rigid enforcement of 
the Laws of the Reform, and all the pictures of the 
life of the Virgin have been taken away. In front of 
the altar is an onyx slab with the inscription in Span- 
ish: "This is the true spot where was found the most 
holy Virgin, beneath a maguey, by the Chief, Don 
Juan Aguila, in the year 1540; (being the spot) where 
she said to him, in the time of her appearance to him, 
for her." Prior to 1796, when this tablet was placed in 
the floor, the spot was marked by a pillar supporting a maguey, with a carving 
of the image; the pillar is now in the cloister. Under the main altar rest the 
bones of the tzin, Don Juan Aguila Tobar, and near by is the chest in which he 
confined the image to prevent its escape to the maguey. Among the pictures 
in the church are some illustrating the life of the Virgin, and two, painted in 
1699 by Francisco de los Angeles, of the Twelve Apostles. 

Guadalupe. — The holiest shrine of all Mexico and its legend the pret- 
tiest of all legends. 

As we read the little of Aztec history that the Spanish fanatic left unburned 
we may well wonder at the similarity of their religion to that of the Chris- 
tians, and we are apt to conclude that the ancient Mexicans were not the pagans 
they have been painted; true, they practiced human sacrifice, but was it less 




VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE. 

that he should search 



143 



in cruelty than in the sacrifice of human life by the Inquisition? The Aztecs 
waited for the coming of a Christ to save them; Malintzi, the Savior of the 
Aztecs, was a man of fair countenance, long flowing hair and beard, was of 
gentle mien and character, was and is to come to save the Mexican; Tonantzin 
was the Mother of Gods in their religion, and the people worshiped her on the 
Hill of Tepeyacac, now called Guadalupe, where the Holy Virgin appeared 
to Juan Diego and where her holiest temple stands. This is the legend: 

A pious Indian, Juan Diego, lived in the village of Tolpetlac, and as he went 
to mass in the church of Santiago Tlaltelolco, passed around the hillside of 
Tepeyacac, on Saturday morning, December 9th, 1531, he heard the sweet 
music of singing voices; he was afraid, and, looking up, behold! a lady ap- 
peared to him and bade him hear what she might say; he should go to the 
Bishop and tell him that it was her will that a temple in her honor should 
be built on that hill; he listened tremblingly, on his knees, and when the lady 
had vanished, went his way and told the 
Bishop what he had seen and heard. The 
Bishop was Don Juan Zumarraga; he 
listened incredulously to the Indian's story 
and sent him away. Sorrowfully he re- 
turned to where the lady appeared to him, 
found her waiting and told the Bishop's 
answer; she bade him come to her again. 
On the following day. Sunday, Juan Diego 
came again to the hillside; the lady ap- 
peared for the third time and sent him to 
the Bishop again with her message that a 
temple should be built for her. The Bish- 
op, still unbelieving and distrusting the 
improbable means of conveying such a 
command through this poor Indian, told 
him he must bring some unmistakable 
token that what he said was true, sent 
him away again, and, unknown to him, 
sent two servants to watch him; but as he 
approached the hill he became invisible in 
some mysterious way, passed around the hill, and alone saw the lady and told 
her the Bishop required a token of the truth of her commands; she told him to 
come to her again the next day. 

Then returned Juan Diego to his house, and found that his uncle, Juan 
Bernardino, was ill with the fever, cocolixtli, so that he must wait at home and 
attend him. Early on the morning of December 12th, the sick man being at 
the point of death, Juan Diego started to Tlaltelolco to call a confessor; fear- 
ing that he might be delayed if he met the lady, and that his uncle might 
die unconfessed, he went another way, around the other side of the hill. But 
behold! she was there, coming down the hill and calling to him; he told her 
of his uncle's illness and of his need for a confessor, but she assured him that 
his uncle was already well. Then the lady told him to gather flowers from 
the barren rocks on top of the hill, and immediately the flowers grew where 
none had ever been before; she commanded him to take these flowers to the 
Bishop as the token he had desired, and to show them to no other until the 
Bishop had looked upon them. 

Joyfully he folded the flowers in his tilma, a sort of cloak made oiixtli, a 
fiber of the maguey, and departed again for the Bishop's house. From the 
place where the Virgin §tOOd a spring of clear, cold water gushed forth; that 




CHAPEL OF THE WELL, GUADALUPE. 



144 




is there to this day, a panacea 

for the ills that flesh is heir to. 

When he came to the Bishop's 

house, the Indian dropped the 

flowers at the holy father's feet 

and upon the tilma appeared the 

image of the Virgin, Holy Mary, 

in the most beautiful colors. The 

Bishop placed the wonderful tilma 

with its miraculous picture in the 

oratory of his house, holding it 

as a priceless treasure. Juan 

Diego, escorted by the Bishop's 

servants, returned to his own 

home and found that his uncle 

was well, cured in the hour when 

the Virgin spake and told him no 

confessor was needed; a chapel 

was built where the roses had so 

miraculously grown from the 

rocks, and on the 7th of February, vision of juan diego. 

1532, the tilma of the holy image placed over its altar within the shrine. Juan 

Diego and his uncle, Juan Bernardino, became the attendants, and under the 

teachings of Fray Toribio Motolinia, Juan Diego and his wife took vows of 

chastity and remained in the house of the Virgin as her servants till Juan 

Diego died, in 1548. 

The legend has the sanction of Rome, first, under Pope Alexander VII, 

who ordered an investigation by the Congregation of Rites with a view to the 

granting of authority for the perpetuation of the feast of the 12th of Decem- 
ber, the day of the last appearance of the Virgin to Juan Diego, the day of 

his gathering the roses in his tilma, and the appearance of the image 

when the flowers fell at the Bishop's feet. In 1666 Senor Don Francisco 

Siles, Dean of the Cathedral, or- 
ganized a tribunal of investigation 
consisting of Juan de Poblete, 
Juan de la Camara, Juan Diez de la 
Barrera and Nicolas del Puerto, 
Canons Siles and Antonio de 
Gama; they went to the village 
of Cuautitlan, the birthplace of 
Juan Diego, and had confirmed 
by the natives, ' some of whom 
were over a hundred years old, 
the truth of the story as they had 
^; .^i^^^^^^^^^^^n^^^^^^ft been taught it by their fathers be- 
fore them. This and other evi- 
dence was sent to Rome, but it 
availed nothing. Cardinal Julio 
Rospillozzi. who in 1667 was elect- 
ed Pope, under the title of Clem- 
ent IX. wrote to the Dean of the 
Cathedral of Puebla that recogni- 
tion was impossible because of 
second appearance of the virgin. the similarity of the legend to that 




145 




of the Immaculate Conception; 
that it seemed superfluous to 
grant a special office for the fes- 
tival of Guadalupe. But when he 
became Pope he was more liberal 
to the petitioners, and, in the ab- 
sence of further information, con- 
tinued the authority for the festi- 
val. The succeeding pontiffs dur- 
ing the following century inter- 
posed no objections to the recog- 
nition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, 
but there was no official indorse- 
ment. Toward the middle of the 
eighteenth century the Virgin of 
Guadalupe was made the Patron 
Saint of Mexico for her protec- 
tion during the plague of the 
fnatlanzahuatl in 1736. In 1754, 
Juan Francisco Lopez, a Jesuit 
priest, having been sent to Rome third appearance of the virgin. 

for that purpose, secured favorable action by the Congregation of Rites, and the 
feast of the 12th of December was established by the Papal bull of Benedict 
XIV, dated 25th of May of that year, and the Virgin of Guadalupe was officially 
proclaimed the Protectress and Patroness of Mexico, or New Spain. 

On the 15th of September, 1810, when Hidalgo took the banner of this Vir- 
gin from the little church of Atotonilco and proclaimed the independence of 
Mexico, "Guadalupe" became the battle-cry of his followers. The first Congress 
of the Republic of Mexico gave the festival further recognition by making the 
I2th of December a national holiday through the decree of November 27th, 
1824, and the day is religiously observed throughout the country, particularly 
by the Indians, who in former years walked hundreds of miles to present 

themselves before the holy shrine, 
and since the building of the 
railroads, come from the utter- 
, most parts by train loads. There 
are other festivals of the Virgin of 
Guadalupe, notably that of Jan- 
uary i2th, when the Archbishop 
and the clerical dignitaries are 
present, and the feast is one of 
splendid magnificence, another on 
the 22d of November, one on the 
3d of December, and on the 12th 
of each month. At the foot of the 
'■^, Hill of Guadalupe is a group of 
churches, that have grown about 
the original church of Nuestra 
Sefiora de Guadalupe, built by 
Bishop Zumarraga, afterwards 
Archbishop of Mexico, who re- 
ceived the sacred tilma from Juan 
Diego. The first temple of the 
tilma was built and the image 




appearance of the image on the tilma 



146 

placed in it within fourteen days after the apparition. A hundred years after, 
a new and larger church was added and the tilma with its miraculous image 
placed in it, in November of 1622. Here the tilma remained for three hun- 
dred years, with the exception of four years, when it was housed in the Cathe- 
dral in the City of Mexico. 

During the great inundation of 1629, when the City was endangered, the 
Archbishop Francisco Manso y Zimiga and the viceroy, Marques of Cerralvo, 
sought the aid of the Virgin for the subsidence of the waters, and to that end 
brought the holy image of the tilma to the Cathedral. The waters covered 
the face of the earth in all the valley, and the bringing of the image was in a 
barge, in which rode the Archbishop, the Viceroy followed in another barge 
carrying a brilliant company of the dignitaries of church and state. 

This weird and unique procession passed over the waters in the night, 
the barges and gondolas were lighted with torches and paper lanterns, while 
the musicians played sacred music and the people sang their hymns to the 
Virgin. When the flotilla came to streets of the city the image was tak'cn to 
the Archbishop's residence for the night, whence it was taken the next day 
to the Cathedral, where it remained four years, till the subsidence of the waters, 
then taken back to the shrine at the Hill of Guadalupe. 

In 1695 the existing parish church was built and used as a temporary shrine 
of the Virgin of Guadalupe, while the work on a larger and greater temple 
progressed, which was dedicated in May, 1709. The arched roof is surmounted 
By a dome and lantern that is 125 feet from the floor, the supports are massive 
Corinthian columns. The nave is nearly 200 feet long by 122 feet wide. The 
original altar was from designs by the great Tolsa. drawn in 1802, but the work 
was so hindered by the wars from 1810 to 1821 that little or no progress was 
made, and it was not completed till 1836; the cost to this time was nearly half 
a million dollars, which, added to the million or more that the churches had 
cost, made the expenditures nearly two million dollars up to that year. Around 
the chancel was placed a massive silver railing on a base of white marble, 
the gift of the Viceroy Bucareli, who lies under the pavement of the west aisle. 
The choir was of carved mahogany and ebony; there are other carvings in 
the sacristy, where there are also some paintings and two very curious tables 
of onyx. This church is what is termed "collegiate," that is, although not the 
seat of an archbishop or bishop, has the organization of a cathedral. 

In the year 1887 Father Antonio Plancarte y Labastida prepared to carry 
out a long cherished design for renovation and embellishment of the Church 
of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and he lived long enough to see the crowning glory 
in the completion of his work before he put down his burden. Father Plan- 
carte died in 1898. When the work was commenced the tilma was moved to 
the adjoining church, one time the convent of the Capuchinas, but not with- 
out some opposition on the part of the Indians, who ever watch the image with 
a jealous eye; they are suspicious of every move; and when the work was 
completed it was replaced in the renewed basilica on the 30th of September, 
1895, at a very early hour before the break of day, thus avoiding further protests 
from the Indians. The architects f(<r the renewal of the church were Senor 
Don Emilio Donde, who was succeeded by Don Juan Agea, who carried the 
work to completion. On entering tiie great doorway there is a bewildering 
sense of the gorgeous magnificence of the scenic interior, and one stands 
almost in awe, with indecision whether to move on or stand there, and so 
great is the beauty of the ensemble that it is hardly possible to fix the eye 
on individual objects; before entering there was a pre-eminent object of seeing 
the famous tilma, but for the moment even that is forgotten in the glorious 
harmony of color. 



147 

The presbyterum is reached by four separate flights of twelve steps and 
IS paved with diamond slabs of white and black Carrara marble. 

The magnificent altar containing the frame holding the sacred tilma is a 
mass of Carrara marble white as the snows of Popocatapetl, exquisitely carved 
and wrought with gilded bronze, executed at Carrara by the sculptor Nicoli 
from designs by the Mexican artists, Agea and Salome Pina. The bronze work 
was done m Brussels. On the left, or Gospel side, of the altar is the figure of 
Juan Zumarraga, on the Epistle, or right side, that of Juan Diego, done in 
Carrara marble; im- 
m.ediately in front is 
the kneeling figure of 
Mgr. Labastida y 
Davalos, Archbishop 
of Mexico, under 
whose care the great 
work was completed. 
Under the statue are 
his ashes and the re- 
mains of his father 
and mother. At the 
top of the frame hold- 
ing the image on the 
tilma are the marble 
reliefs of three angels 
represe n t i n g the 
archdioceses of Mex- 
ico, Michoacan and 
Guadalajara, which 
were chiefly instru- 
mental in securing 
the Papal authority 
for the coronation. 
Above the High 
Altar is a splendid 
Byzantine baldachin high altar of guadalupe. 

supported by pillars of Scotch granite, surmounted by a gilded cross of roses, 
the flowers of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The front arch of the baldachin bears 
the arms of Pope Leo XIII, the other three arches the arms of the Archbishops 
of Mexico, Michoacan and Guadalajara, who applied to Pope Leo for permis- 
sion to crown the image of the tilma. On the baldachin in Gothic letters are the 
Latin lines composed by Pope Leo XIII, as follows: 

Mexicus heic populus mira sub Imagine gaudet 
Te colore, alma Parens, prsesidioque frui. 
Per te sic vigeat felix, teque auspice, Christi 
Immotam servet firmior usque fidem. 

—LEO PP. XIII. 
Which, being translated, means: 

"The Mexican people rejoice in worshiping Thee, Holy Mother, under 
this miraculous Image, and in looking to Thee for protection. 

"May that people through Thee flourish in happiness, and ever, under Thy 
auspices, grow stronger in the faith of Christ." 

Between the arches of the baldachin are bronze statues representing the 
cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. 




148 






it 



Underneath the High Altar is a crypt with a vaulted iron roof that will 
sustain a weight of 300,000 pounds. The crypt contains four altars under the 
High Altar, and has thirty urns for the reception of the ashes of the thirty 
persons who gave $5,000 each to the cost of the High Altar and the baldachin, 
the total cost of which was $150,000. 

The blue vaults of the roof are studded with gold stars in relief; in fact, 
the stars are of cedar fastened to the roof. The beams are beautifully decorated 
in Byzantine, .designs. .The dome is a mass of gilding relieved with festoons 
of pink roses; the panels are frescoed with figures of the Virgin of Guadalupe 
and of angels with scrolls; and allegorical attributes of the Virgin. The lantern 
of the dome is of :stained glass, the gift of the College of the Sacred Heart, 
of San Cosme,', Canon Mantilla, J. L. Traslosheros, the Theological Seminary 
of Durango, J. M. Fierro, Ygnacio Rivero, Guadalupe Ovando and Eduardo de 
Ovando. The four spaces below the dome show the figures of the four evan- 
gelists. 

The walls of the basilica are richly decorated with five splendid frescoes, 
gifts of the diocese of Zacatecas, archdiocese of Durango, diocese of Yucatan, 

Bishop of San Luis Potosi, and the diocese of Quere- 
taro. The first fresco to the right on entering, by 
the artist Don Felipe G. Gutierrez, is a representation 
of the conversion of the Indians under the benign 
influence of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is seen 
hovering in the air over the groups listening to the 
preaching of the friars and being baptized by them. 
The second on the right is by a young Jesuit priest. 
Fray Gonzalo Carrasco, shows the conveying of the 
tilma with the sacred image, December 26th, 1531, 
I from the house of Bishop Zumarraga to the first 
.church built for its keeping at the foot of the Hill of 
jTepeyacac. It is a solemn procession, with the image 
borne under a canopy attended by a brilliant coterie 
of clericals arrayed in gorgeous vestments and gaily 
costumed cavaliers, with which there is strange con- 
trast in the sombre garb of the friars and the dress of 
the Indians. About the canopy and the image are 
acolytes bearing candles and flambeaux. In the lower 
THE CROWN. right-hand corner is a representation of the first mir- 

acle performed through the Virgin of Guadalupe: in the fervor of adoration the 
Indians had been sending arrows and javelins through the air; one of them 
wounds a young man; his mother runs and begs the people to turn back and 
care for him, but as the image is borne near the spot where the injured Indian 
lies his wounds are miraculously healed. The fresco is a splendid piece of work 
by a fine artist. 

The first fresco from the entrance on the left or west side of the church 
shows the presentation of the copy of the tilma and the image to Pope Bene- 
dict XIV by the Jesuit Juan Francisco Lopez, in 1751, in soliciting the Papal 
authority for the festival and recognition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The 
PontifT is in the act of exclaiming "Non fecit taliter omni Nationi." The 
picture is a striking one of historic as well as artistic merit. 

The second on the left is by Don Felix Parra. It represents the salvation of 
the people from the dreadful plague "matlazalmatl," in 1737, by the invocation 
of the Virgin of Guadalupe by Archbishop Antonio Bizarron y Eguiarreta, who 
placed the city under her protection and the pestilence departed from the land. 
In the foreground an Indian smitten with the plague is kneeling in supplica- 




149 



tion, beyond in the background is a splendid altar surrounded by a company of 
gorgeously robed bishops, darkly cassocked priests and gaily attired cavaliers, 
officers of the city and of the Spanish king. The picture is a brilliant one 
of harmonizing colors that hold one in earnest contemplation. 

The fresco nearest the altar on the west side is by Senor Ibarraran y Ponce, 
representing the taking of the evidence, in 1666, of the Vision for the purpose 
of sending to Rome for papal recognition. The frescoes bear the names of 
the donors. 

On the wall between two of the frescoes is an inscription in Latin, which, 
being translated, says: "The Mexican people, in honor of the Virgin of 
Guadalupe, who in old time appeared on the Hill of 
Tepeyac to Juan Diego, erected a holy temple and with 
all piety venerated the ancient Image. One of the 
most conspicuous in its cult was the Archbishop 
Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Davalos, a most 
munificent restorer of this collegiate church. Now 
at length, as all had wished, and as the Chapter of 
the Vatican Basilica had decreed in A. D. 1740, the 
famous Image, with the sanction of the Supreme 
Pontiff, Leo XIII, was crowned with a diadem of 
gold on the fourth day before the Ides of October, 
1895, Prospero M. Alarcon being Archbishop of 
Mexico, to stand forever as the shield, the protection 
and the honor of the Mexican people." On each side 
of this inscription are the names of those who have 
helped in the building of the church, not only by 
gifts of money, but in whatever way they may have 
assisted. In the apse behind the High Altar are mural 
portraits of the Popes Benedict XIV and Leo XIII, 
Archbishop Labastida, and Mgr. Alarcon, the arch- 
bishop at the time of the coronation of the image 
in 1895, and a painting of the arms of Father Plan- 
carte. Here also is the family chaoel and 
vault of Sefior Don Antonio de Mier y Cells; 
the chapel is dedicated to St. Joseph and is 
most beautifully decorated. The crypt under 
the chapel is an exact reproduction of the 
crypt of the Escorial in Madrid. The three 
stained glass windows of the chapel are 
gems of the art and cost $17,000. The altars 
with family vaults are five in number; that of stone sails of guadalupe. 

Madame Martinez is dedicated to Mexican saints; the altar of San Antonio be- 
longs to Miguel de Cervantes Estanillo; of San Joachim, to Manuel Fernandez 
del Castillo; the altar dedicated to the founders of religious orders which la- 
bored for the convers^'on of the Indians of Mexico belongs to Father Plancarte, 
all of which are handsomely decorated. There is also a Chapel of the Sacred 
Heart. In all there are ten altars in this great church. The fine windows of 
the church were the gifts of prominent people of Mexico. 

The High Altar holds the sacred tilma in which Juan Diego brought the 
roses to the Bishop, and on which the Image of the Virgin so miraculously ap- 
peared. Some years ago a number of artists and scientific men were per- 
mitted to examine the picture, which they did critically, taking ofT the plate 
glass, but they were not able to say that the colors were put on in any manner 
known to art; they all agreed that the picture was not painted, and by their 




150 

decision the mystery of the picture was enhanced and its miraculous origin 
all but determined. The tilma has remained here in this place for nearly four 
hundred years; its colors are bright and fresh, while other pictures as old are 
faded and worn; is it any wonder that the mass of the people believe, since 
learned men and artists cannot of their learning and art gainsay the legend? 

The adoration of the image on the tilma has not been confined to olden 
times; it continues, and will continue for all time. The culmination w^as on the 
I2th of October, 1895, when a crown of gold and jewels, a galaxy of gems, 
diamonds, rubies and sapphires, was placed over the tilma. On that day came 
the pilgrims from every quarter, thronged the church and covered the plain 
round about. 

It was a magnificent scene to stand upon the hill and look down upon the 
limitless, numberless multitude of pilgrims, come from the remotest corners of 
Mexico and assembled here without the walls, for only hundreds could get 
within the sacred portals, the unsheltered thousands knelt in mute adoration, 
with bowed heads, in the dust of the salty plain, and listened to the tolling of 
the bells in the tower when the jeweled, golden crown was raised to the brow 
of the Virgin of Guadalupe, then fell down and kissed the ground in the fervor 
of their adoration and blessed the memory of good Juan Diego. 

Within, under the arches of the vaulted temple, were gathered the digni- 
taries of the Holy Church of Rome, come from all the sees and bishoprics of 
the western world, to render homage, and in all the pomp and ceremony of the 
church, with mitered heads and in gorgeous robes, lifted up their voices m 
adulation to the Queen of Heaven, and bowed down before her image on the 
Indian's tilma. In priestly procession the chief apostles of the church came 
from the robing rooms in gorgeous attire, passed through the crowded corri- 
dors till they came and gathered around the Archbishop's throne, and then 
came the bearers of the jeweled crown, almost hidden in clouds of incense, 
while a choir of boyish voices chanted anthems of praise. 

There was a clangor of bells, across the plain booming cannon reverberated 
against the hills that throw their lengthened shadows over the valley of Mex- 
ico. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims had gathered at the Hill of Guada- 
lupe, and the darkened spots here and there in the plain showed where other 
pilgrims were ploddmg to their Mecca, footsore and weary, yet straggling on 
to join the throng of devotees — and quickened their pace when faintly came 
the tolling of the bells, and as the roll of the artillery announced the hour, 
they knew the time was at hand. 

The glad news had gone over every hill, down to every valley and over all 
the plains of Mexico, that the coronation of Guadalupe was to be on this day. 
The news went not by advertisement or printed paper, but on the wings of the 
wind. The birds of the air told it to the people, and they came and knelt at 
the hill of Guadalupe, that was called Tepayacac. 

The crown is of gold and precious stones, contributed by the women of 
Mexico from their own jewels, and was made by a Parisian goldsmith at a cost 
of over $30,000 for manufacture alone. In shape it is an imperial diadem, 62 
centimeters high and 130 centimeters in circumference. There are 22 shields 
representing the 22 bishoprics of Mexico. Above these are angels circling the 
crown and upholding six other shields bearing the arms of the six Arch- 
bishoprics of Mexico. From the wings of the angels are festoons of roses and 
diamonds gathered at the top under a globe showing Mexico and the Gulf. 

Surmounting the whole is the eagle of Mexico bearing in its talons a dia- 
mond cross. The crown is held above the image on the tilma by a cherub. The 
shields are surrounded by emeralds and sapphires, and on the breast oi 



151 



each angel is a blazing ruby. Altogether it is^ the finest jewel used in religious 
ceremonies in existence. 

At the coronation the ladies who gave their jewels for the crown carried it 
to the steps of the throne of the Archbishop, where the Papal brief author- 
izing the coronation was read, and the notarial certificates of the action made, 
and it was received by the Archbishop amid the clangor of bells and salvos of 
artillery. 

A solemn mass was said, and then the crown was carried in grand procession 
through the assembled congregation, and when it had returned again to the 
throne the Archbishop of Mexico, assisted by the Archbishop of Michoacan, 
ascended the platform and exactly at noon placed the crown in its place over 
the head of the Virgin of Guadalupe above the tilma of Juan Diego, and the 
coronation was done. 

It was the scene of a lifetime; women were overcome with emotion and 
men moved with the enthusiasm of the hour. Not alone were they Mexicans 
who were here to take part; there were Archbishops and Bishops from other 
countries, from the United States, Canada and Cuba. The Archbishop of New 
York, of Quebec and of Santiago de Cuba and the Bishops from everywhere, 
none too high to give him reverence whose homely service brought the 
flowers in his tilma and poured them down at the feet of good old Zumarraga, 
and held before the first bishop the first image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. 

The event of the coronation revived the discussion of the authenticity of the 
tilma and the image; one bishop at least, the Bishop of Tamaulipas, dis- 
sented and preached against it, and the great agnostic, Sefior Don Juan Ma- 
teos, who has been called the Ingersoll of Mexico, opened the flood gates of 
his splendid oratory against the story of the tilma and eulogizing the advance- 
ment which he sees in the unbelief of a bishop of the Church. But the legend 
will go on forever, and it can do no harm, even if it only serves 
for a pretty story, it will live; but it will do more than that 
among the people whence Juan Diego came, if it brings the 
story of the Holy Child home to them. The controversy brought 
forth an edict from the Archbishop of Mexico which calls atten- 
tion to the tradition of the centuries, the approval of the Popes, 
and while not putting down the apparition as an 
article of faith, the edict says finally in exhortation: 
"Preserve, therefore, the traditions which you have 
inherited from your forefathers and hold indelibly 
in your memory the words which Lorenzana caused 
to be written with regard to the first Archbishop 
f-; of Mexico, Dr. Zumarraga. Heaven rewarded his 
apostolic labors and his painful diocesan vis- 
s,,^^ its made on foot by vouchsafing the appari- 

tion to him on December 12th, 1531, of the 
miraculous image of Our Lady of Guada- 
lupe, a favor which kindled in his heart 
such flames of devotion towards that Holy 
^^^ Queen that at his own expense he began 
*^W^p? the construction of the first chapel in her 
honor, there to satisfy his own devotion 
and that ^ of the faithful by an incessant round of 
services." Then came, by the Archbishop's order, 
fiestas more elaborate and brilliant than ever be- 
fore, the people came as they never came before, 
and as they will come on forever to worship at the 




BEGGAR ON THE STAIRS. 



152 

Shrine of Guadalupe. The great church fronts on the main plaza of the City of 
Guadalupe, opposite the street that leads to the causeway over which the street 
cars pass to and from the City of Mexico; the cars pass the church and stop 
under the trees of the little alameda which adjoins it on the east side. The 
church is a massive stone structure with a tall tower, filled with bells, on each 
corner; the southwest tower holds the town clock; the towers are oyer a hun- 
dred feet high. The center fagade, through which is the main door, is of stone 
and marble whiteness, handsomely sculptured; twenty stone columns support 
the elaborately carved friezes of the first and second elevations ; between the sets 
of two columns are life-size figures, also in stone. Immediately over the 
main entrance and in the center of the fagade is a sculptured representation of 
the scene in the Bishop's house when Juan Diego let the roses fall from his 
tilma, disclosing the image of the Virgin. In the center of the arched roof 
is a massive dome, the lantern of which is 125 feet above the floor of the 
church. 

Adjoining the church on the east side is the ancient convent, called in old 
times Santa Coleta, later as the Capuchinas de Nuestra Seiiora de Guada- 
lupe. The first movement toward the establishment of the convent was in 1575, 
again in 1707, but it was not authorized until 1780, and the building not com- 
pleted till 1787. The convent was closed and the nuns expelled by the Laws of 
the Reform, and the building relegated to church and school uses. The convent 
and church was erected at a cost of nearly a quarter of a million dollars. This 
old structure is after the conventional style of church architecture in 3*Iexico, 
and has principally its antiquity to interest the visitor, and again as the abiding 
place of the image on the tilma for many years. The Capilla del Pocito, the 
chapel of the well, is just beyond the little park of trees on the east of the 
church — a beautiful little chapel with a dome of glazed tiles that covers the 
spring of water that gushed from where the Virgin stood as she sent the Indian 
away with the flowers. The spring is just inside the door of the chapel, bej^ond 
it, under the dome, is the altar and a carved pulpit supported by an image of 
Juan Diego; on the walls are paintings of the various visions of the Virgin. 
This chapel w^as completed in 1791 at a cost of over $50,000; the architect was 
Don Francisco Guerrero y Torres, who gave his services free. Just opposite 
the Chapel of the Well on the rise of the hill is the spot where the Virgin ap- 
peared in one of the visions ; the spot was marked by a pillar supporting an 
image of the Virgin. 

Commencing here is the ascent of the hill by means of a stone stair- 
way that leads to the Capilla del Cerrito, the Chapel of the Hill. About 
half way up the stairs are the Stone Sails of Guadalupe, and thereby hangs 
a tale : Some sailors in dire distress in a storm-tossed ship that had lost her 
rudder, prayed to the Virgin of Guadalupe and vowed that if she would 
bring them safe to land they would carry the foremast to the Hill of Guada- 
lupe and set the sails before her shrine. There the sails are to this day, in- 
cased in stone, a memorial to the protecting power of the Virgin. The date 
of the placing of this curious work remains untold in the annals of Guada- 
lupe. The walk up the stone stairs is a long one, but not tiresome if you 
stop here and there, as you will, to see the magnificent panorama that grows 
wider at every step till it spreads out in one grand, glorious picture, the like 
of which is nowhere else in the world. The towers and domes of the churches 
at the foot of the hill are beneath your feet; beyond the towers the village of 
Guadalupe ; across the plain the city and lakes, and surrounding all the moun- 
tains, dimly, beautifully blue. 



153 

The CapUla del Cerrito,, the "chapel of the Httle hill," is built on the 
spot where grew the roses in the barren rock, that sprang up at the Virgin's 
word for Juan Diego to gather and take to the Bishop in token of her wish 
for a temple there. Until the year 1660 the place was marked only by a 
wooden cross ; at that time a little chapel was built there on the top of the 
hill by Don Cristobal de Aguirre, who made an endowment of $1,000 for a 
solemn service to be held on the 12th of December of each year in memory 
of the vision of the Virgin. The chapel as it now stands was built by the 
Presbitero Don Juan de Montiifar in the early part of the eighteenth century; 
he. built also the stone stairway from the plain to the top of the hill. Back 
of the chapel is a pretty little cemetery, where rest the remains of many 
prominent Mexicans, among wdiom lies buried the famous General and Dic- 
tator, Santa Ana. A winding path leads down the west slope of the hill, afford- 
ing an easy descent. About half way down is a curious little grotto in a tiny 
garden ; the grotto is decorated with mosaics ingeniously laid in the rocky 
clefs, the work of some of the servitors of the church. 

Thus, going to the right of the church and old convent, through the little 
park to the Chapel of the Well, thence up the stone stairs to the "Chapel of 
the Little Hill, down the path on the west slope, one passes around the 
charmed circle of churches, chapels and shrines, and near the places where 
the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego. The first two visions were on the side 
of the hill, on its southern slope, near where the great church now stands, 
on Saturday, December 9th, 1531 ; the third and fourth visions, the next 
morning and afternoon. Sunday, loth, near the same spot. The fifth and last 
appearance of the Virgin, Tuesday, December 12th, was on the spot marked 
by the Chapel of the Well ; the waters gushed forth from where' she stood. 
Ihe roses w-ere found on top of the hill where the Chapel of the Little Hill 
now stands. The village of Guadalupe was made a town by a royal order of the 
King of Spain in 1748. The Congress of the Republic of Mexico granted a char- 
ter o.n the I2th of February, 1828, which raised the town to the dignity^of a city, 
and in the City of Guadalupe was signed the treaty of peace that was the 
closing act of the war between the United States and Mexico, called the 
treaty of. Guadakpe-Hidalgo, dated February 2d, 1848. Electric cars leave the 
Piaza Mayor, immediately in front of the Cathedral in the City of Mexico, and 
run in a northeasterly direction, after leaving the streets of the city, across the 
plain to Guadalupe ; the -route of the cars is on one of the two old causeways 
of the Aztecs and Spaniards that led from the city to Tepeyacac. The two 
causeways run side by side ; the eastern causeway, occupied by the street car 
tracks, is the oldest — was built by the Aztecs, repaired and enlarged by the Span- 
ish in 1604-6. The western is not so ancient; it is called Calzada Nueva, "the 
new causeway," now occupied by the tracks of the Mexican (Vera Cruz) Rail- 
way, was built in 1675-6. This new calzada was the great highway to Guadalupe 
and the route of the processions from the Cathedral and the churches in 
the city to the shrine of Guadalupe. The road was paved, the little arched 
bridges were of cut stone; about half way was a beautiful glorieta or circle; 
and at intervals along the road were shrines or altars of cut stone, beautifully 
sculptured; there were fifteen of them, dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of 
the rosary, where the pilgrims uttered the appropriate prayer at each as he 
passed by. Some of the shrines remain; they may be seen from car windows or 
from the street cars on the adjoining causeway. 

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the holiest shrine in all Mexico, 
and many pilgrims come to pray and to look upon the glories thereof. 



154 





The Cities and Towns of Hexico. 



There were cities in Mexico before the European who discovered the 
country was born, aye, cities with hundreds of thousands within their gates, 
a thousand years before the city was built that boasts the discoverer's birth, 
and towns were there on the plains, and on the lake shore, and on a hundred 
hills, looking down to the valleys below, where villages nestled in their shadows. 
These have passed away, and only their ruined temples, here and there, have 
left their pillars and graven walls, uncovered by the sands of fleeting cen- 
turies, in unrefuted evidence of a splendid magnificence and pre-historic civili- 
zation. 

And there were cities and towns in Mexico when the greatest of these in 
the United States of the North were but straggling villages. Their streets 
were paved with stone, while the grass grew in ours, the shadows of high 
walls shaded the passers by, instead of the trees that made the shady side of 
our thoroughfares, and the first that is written here was a city nearly a hun- 
dred years before the Mayflower unloaded its cargo on Plymouth Rock. 

These remain till this day, and the traveler of the newer cities of the North 
may come and walk in the same paved pathways, pass under the same dark- 
ening arches, may bow down at the altars that were reared when the stones 
of the Pilgrims' churches were unquarried, and he may live under a roof 
that may have sheltered a courtly cavalier of old Spain, come here attendant 
at a vice-regal court. The streets of the then, are the streets of the now, and 
the oldest inhabitant knows not, except from history, when his house was 
built. 

I have not chosen to put one before the other here; I have written of them 
in the order of their curious names, alphabetically as to the letters of their 
spelling, leaving the pronunciation all to you, and to the native who tells 
you how. 

Acatnbaro. On the 19th of September, 1526, Nicolas Montafies de San 
Ak-kam'-baro Luis, an Otomite ally of the Spaniards, who was also Ca- 
cique of Xilotepec, declared Acambaro a city, and the next day, with afl the 
pomp and circumstance of state, he marched his soldiers up and down the 
plain where the streets were to be, and coming to the place where the plaza 
now is, a mass was said in a temporary chapel, on the spot where now stands 
the parish church, and the Church of San Francisco was named that day. 
After the religious ceremonies, the first city election was held, that is, Don 
Nicolas appointed the officers^ and Acambaro became a full-fledged city, nearly 
four hundred years ago. 

155 



156 

There was no mushroom growth in the advancement of the town. The 
date of its founding is recorded, but not so the date of its completion, and 
if we may judge from its narrow streets, the tumble-down houses and neglected 
plaza, its finishing must have beeir a century or so ago, and the chiefest 
charm is in its antiquity. It is the - same old Tarascan town that Nicolas 
Montahes intended it should be, and the coming of the railroad has not dis- 
turbed its siesta. The trains come and go, and the people ask not whence 
they come or where they go, neither do they care. 

The Tarascans gave the town its name as meaning "the place of the 
maguey," though little of it grows in the surrounding fertile plains, the lands 
being tilled in more valuable products. Located on the King's highway to 
the Pacific Coast, it was a trading place of note many years ago, and it was 
then that the great stone bridge over the Lerma was built, and later, in 1810, 
Hidalgo concentrated his troops at Acambaro, with the intention of march- 
ing to the Capital. When the railway builders came they found the place 
in the way of their lines, and it became — a place to change cars, that's all. 
A day at Acambaro may not be, by any means, the least delightful. A min- 
ute's walk from the handsome stone station and the tracks, will take you 
backward another century, and (if you hear not the whistle or the engine 
bell) to another .country strange and quaint. There is no way to ride, and 
there is no need to; you must walk and you will prefer to, through Amargura 
Street, passing the fourteen capillas chiquitas, the stations of the cross, to 
the church of Soledad, at the top of a little hill, coming back another way 
to the plaza, where you may rest under the great trees. 

Near by is the church of San Francisco with its deserted convent, one 
of the oldest in all Mexico and one that has never been closed for repairs, 
though there is a new and unfinished chapel that was commenced in 1850 
as a thank offering for the escape of the town from cholera, intended to be 
dedicated by Fray Macedonio Romero to Nuestra Sefiora del Refugios, but 
it was never finished. These and the Church of Guadalupe are all to be 
seen. 

Near the railway track, about a quarter of a mile from the station, is 
the great stone bridge across the Lerma that was built, long ago, in the old 
Spanish days; the massive arches and columned entry-ways make an antique 
picture that is in consonance with the sleepy old town. The water supply 
is conducted from the hills in an aqueduct, built by a Franciscan brother, 
Antonio Bermul, in 1527. In all the years of its existence Acambaro has at- 
tained but 10,000 inhabitants, and there is nothing modern in the place except 
the railway station, which is also the hotel where travelers may find rooms 
and meals in a more modern style than at the one on the plaza. Located 
in the State of Guanajuato, Acambaro is on the western division of the Mexican 
National Railroad, 178 miles Irom the City of Mexico, and at a junction of that 
division running to Morelia and Patzcuaro. 

Acapulco. On the west coast of Mexico at Acapulco is the finest 
Ah-ka-pull'-ko harbor of that country, and the second finest in the world; 
surrounded as it is by high mountains with only a narrow tortuous pas- 
sage to the sea, it is completely land locked and is picturesque to a degree. 
Through the western rim of the hills an artificial cut has been made to ad- 
mit the sea breezes — it is called El Abra de San Nicolas. 

Acapulco was early made a fortified town as it was a seaport with a deep 
water harbor, and was garrisoned by the Spanish early in their occupa- 
tion of the country, and remained in their possession till the close of the war 
for Independence, with the exception of a few days when the fort was taken 
by the patriot army of Morelos, at that time under the immediate command 



157 

of an American, a Tennessean, Col. Ellis P. Bean, who for a long time had 
been a prisoner in the fort at Acapulco. having been sent there from Chi- 
huahua and confined in the dungeons for nearly three years, but escaped, 
joined the republican army under Morelos, and took his revenge in tak- 
ing the City. 

The importance of Acapulco will be greatly enhanced by the completion of the 
Cuernavaca division of the Mexican Central Ry., that not only connects it with 




THE BASKET WEAVER'S DAUGHTER. 



the City of Mexico, the railway system of the interior, but opens up a market 
for the extensive mineral and agricultural products of the State of Guerrero, 
Lummis says of Acapulco: "It is all the picture of a dream. The soft 
green of the bay^to which not even the Pacific ground swell can enter — 
is cut by the sombre green of the beachless hills. At the water's edge, here 
and there, rise high plumed heads of palms, with glimpses of plantations be- 
tween their colonnades. On a long narrow strand of the northern shore 
are strung the irregular white beads of the town, ended at the left by the 



158 

truncate hill — at the right by the gray old fort. Than Acapulco there is no 
better type of the Mexican tierra caliente. It is the jewel of all tropic Amer- 
ica; artistically it has no superior in any land, and in this hemisphere no 
equal." 

The harbor of Acapulco was discovered by Cortez in 1531, and he sailed 
from this port on his voyage up the west coast to Sinaloa, and from this 
port also sailed May 9th, 1540, Don Hernando de Alarcon, the discoverer 
of California; from Acapulco the galleon carried the commerce of Spain that 
had crossed the Atlantic and the continent, to her colonies in the Philippines 
for more than a century. 




Aguas Calieutes. 

Ah'-was Cal-i-en'-tees 



THE DRAWN WORK MAKERS. 

The name of this city may not be difficult of re- 
membrance. It may have impressed itself upon 
your mind, if you were a traveler in Mexico in the early days of railroads 
there, when some friend, better posted on the language, had coached you 
how to ask for something you did not get — for the hot water that never 
canie. Aguas Calientes is a veritable city of hot water, and the citizens are 
in it most of the time, as may be seen, even from the windows of the passing 
train. 

The hot springs, that have made the city famous, are about a mile from 
the station, on the east side, and at the springs the first baths were estab- 
lished, curiously named after John the Baptist and the Apostles, with their 
names written over the doors, with the figures indicating the temperature of 



169 

each particular Apostle. The ditch, which is the waste-way from the springs, 
runs alongside the avenue, shaded by immense trees, crossing the track at 
the station. Here were the scenes that have been talked of, and written of, 
where the people came for their baths, and for their laundry, at one and the 
same time. At first thought, the idea does not seem effulgent with dazzling 
features — but the one of economy, both as to time and clothes, and the at- 
tendant laundry expenses, should not be overlooked. One need have but one 
suit, that can be washed and dried while you wait, the intervening time oc- 
cupied by your own bath, with the added experience of every man his own 
washerwoman being fully realized. 

The scene along this hot-water canal, and at the pools, was an interesting 
one — not always on the bills, as the theater people say. Looking up from 
the station platform there was a long line of busy beings striving at a com- 
pliance with nature's first law. They were in all stages of beginning, con- 
tinuing or completing the ablution or the laundry, with, as a writer says, no 




THE PORTALES, AGUAS CALIENTES. 

Other protection than the blue sky of heaven and the Republic of Mexico; 
babies tied to a string paddled in the warm waters, while their mothers tended 
strictly to the business in hand. The picture was brightened by the many- 
colored garments hung out to dry on the bushes that hereabouts did duty 
as clothes lines. These things have been changed somewhat, bath houses 
have been erected for the free use of the public, one on each side of the 
Paseo very near the station, one for women, the other for men, so the bathers 
that were along the waste ditches have gone into these bath houses, or the 
fields beyond. A wide avenue with great overhanging trees affords a shady 
drive, or horse-car ride, from the main plaza and the railway station to the 
baths at the head waters, or for a fine walk if you are equal to one of a mile. 
There are other baths in the city, near the station and near the plaza. These, 
with the delightful climate of Aguas Calientes, render the stop an attractive 
one. 



160 

Like the old-fashioned towns of Tennessee, these in Mexico have a public 
square, here called the plaza. The one at Aguas Calientes is beautiful with 
its trees and flowers, winding walks, the towering monument over all ; in the 
center is the band-stand, where sweet music entertains the people in the 
evenings, and, on the four sides, fine buildings make this plaza a very at- 
tractive one. The monument seems unfinished, but it is, or was. Originally 
it was surmounted by a statue of Ferdinand VII, erected to commemorate 
the founding of the city, October 22, 1575. The Mexicans were wont to throw- 
things down in times of war, even if they set them up again when the war 
was over. The statue was thrown down, but never replaced, and the monu- 
ment is now utilized to perpetuate other data in the city's history. There are 
a dozen other plazas, including the very beautiful Jardin de San Marcos and 
the Tivoli de Hidalgo, reached by the horse cars after a very short ride. 
Near the main plaza, two squares north, are the markets, always interesting in 
Mexico, and here especially so. 

At any season the visit to Agiias Calientes may be made, but during la- 
fiesta de San Marcos is the best time to see the city in all its glory. The 
feast commences April 23, and extends till May 10, when St. Mark takes pos- 
session of the town, and all business is given over to merriment and turkeys, 
this season being as disastrous to the latter as a November Thursday in ' los 
Esfados Unidos." 

The chief product of Aguas Calientes is the "drawn- work" — the making of 
which is the sole occupation of a large percentage of the people, and while not 
engaged in its manufacture they are at the station to sell it. The finest linen 
is drawn in the most intricate and exquisite designs — the fame of this work has 
gone abroad and every woman traveler waits up till she arrives at Aguas. 

The public buildings are very fine, indeed. The Palacio de Gobicnw, State 
House and Casa Municipal are on the main plaza, and adjoining it the Teatro 
Morelos. The Parian market is one square north of the plaza. On the Jardin 
de San Marcos is the Salon de Exposition and Scientific Institute. The 
parish church has some very fine pictures, painted by Andreas Lopez, in 1797, 
depicting the life of San Juan Nepomuceno. In the other churches are some 
really fine pictures, notably, an Adoration of the Magi, by Jose de Alzibar, 
in 1775, and another canvas of his is in the Church of San Juan de Dios. 
Perhaps the best paintings of the Stations of the Cross, in Mexico, are at 
the Church of the Encino, also by Andreas Lopez. In the Church of San 
Francisco are some good pictures, one representing scenes from the life of 
St. Francis, by Juan Correa, painted in 1681, another is the Vision of St. 
Anthony of Padua. Under the church are the bones and bodies of mum- 
mied monks. Aguas Calientes is an important city of 38,000 people, located 
on the main line of the Mexican Central Railway, 364 miles from the City 
of Mexico, six miles from the junction of the Tampico Division at Chicalote ; 
the railway company has extensive shops and an employes' hospital at Aguas 
Calientes. 

A m e c a. On the Western Division of the Mexican Central Railway, 

Ah-may'-cah 55 niiles west of Guadalajara, is in the center of a rich mining 
and agricultural district. 

Attiecameca. One may go out from the City of Mexico to the foot of 
Ah-may'-f-a-niay'-oa the great volcanoes before breakfast, but not as the newly 
arrived tourist at Denver did, when he thought, from the marvelously clear 
atmosphere, that he would \yalk out to Pike's Peak. You may take an early 
train from San Lazaro station in the city, and arrive at Amecameca in less 
than two hours. 



161 

Amecameca lies on the plain just at the foot of Popocatepetl and Ixtacci- 
huatl, and for the near views and the ascent one must go to Ameca — the name 
has recently been shorn of one "meca." The train rounds a curve and comes 
to a stop just at the foot of the Sacred Mountain. A wooded hill lies on the 
right of the track, and just below the station is a stone-paved causeway, marked 
at intervals by the stations of the cross ; it leads to the shrine on the top 
of the Sacro Monte. This causeway was built for the processions that, during 
the fiestas of Holy Week, pass between the shrine and the parish church. 
Once upon a time, very many years ago, there lived on this mountain a 
good, kind old man. He lived in a cave and was so gentle and kind that 
the birds came and sang to him, and the little animals of the forest played 
about his door, and followed close on his footsteps. He was Fray Martin 
de Valencia, one of the "Twelve Apostles" of Mexico, sent by Pope Adrian 
VI as a missionary to the Indians, with the title of Vicar of New Spain, 




DEVOTEES OF SACRO MONTE. 

The Fray was greatly beloved by the people, and when he died and was 
buried at Tlalmanalco, it is said that the Indians secretly removed and buried 
him in the cave where he had lived so happily. The cave is now a part of 
the shrine, in which is kept a very curious image of the Christ of the Holy 
Sepulchre. It is made of some very light material, probably the pith of the 
alder, or some like porous substance, that, although it is life-size, weighs 
only about two or three pounds. The legend goes, that some men were con- 
veying, on the backs of mules, images intended for another part of the coun- 
try, and that one of the mules strayed from the train, made his way up the 



163 

^de of the mountain, stopped in the entrance of the cave, and waited ^here 
ihis was taken as a token that the image was to abide there; it was placed 
in the cave and has remamed there till this day— except, that on Ash Wednes- 
day of each year it is carried, with great pomp and ceremony, from the shrine 
to the parish church, where it remains till Good Friday, and is then returned 
to Its abiding place. 
. This is the great fiesta of the year at Amecameca. The pilgrims come from 




IXTACCIHUATL FROM SACRO MONTE. 

all parts of the country to see what we call the Passion Play, just previous to 
the return of the image to the shrine. The enaction of the Crucifixion by 
Indian actors, is curiously interesting, and when, after nightfall on Good 
l^nday, the image starts on its return, a great multitude with torches follow 
up the stone steps of the causeway, some of the more devout crawling on 
their knees up the rough hillside, a scene wondrously weird and altogether 
indescribable; you look upon it with awe. and it is well that this is so as 
any indication of contempt or amusement might be resented. 



163 



On the crest of the hill of Sacro Monte is the shrine of Guadalupe, where 
there are some fairly good pictures of the saints and of the Virgin of the 
Castle, by Villalobos. In the hard clay of the mountain are seen crude rep- 
resentations of the cross, and on the trees and bushes are little pieces of 
the dress of the pilgrims, hairs from their heads, or some other token of 
their devotion left there for buena fortuna. From the crest of the hill at 
Guadalupe is the finest view of the volcanoes, the plain and city. The parish 




POPOCATEPETL FROM AMECAMECA. 

church of Nuestra Sefiora de la Asuncion and San Sebastian is on the plaza 
and near the railway station, founded by the Dominicans, in 1547. It is quite 
an extensive building, with a mutilated figure of San Sebastian over the en- 
trance, said mutilation resulting from the earthquake of 1884, which also 
destroyed the tower of San Juan and furnished material for the building of 
the Casa Municipal, on the Plaza Mayor. 

Adjoining the church is an abandoned chapel, and between them an open 
court filled with old sepulchres, as is the church yard. Over the door of this 



164 

Capilla de la Santa Escuela is a glazed tile, with an inscription to Iturbide, 
the liberator, asking the prayers of the people for the repose of his soul. 
In the eastern part of the town is the little chapel of the Rosario, with some 
excellently carved doors, altars and images of Santa Ana and San Jose. 

To ascend the volcanoes of Popocatepetl you must come to Amecameca. 
The ascent is attended with more fatigue than danger. It takes three days 
to accomplish it; the first is going from the Amecameca to the rancho of 
the .owners of the mountain; the second from the rancho to the crater and 
return; and the third by the return to the plain. Permission must be ob- 
tained from the owner in the City of Mexico, guides at Amecameca, good 
warm clothing and a plentiful supply for the inner man must be taken along. 
The ascent is slow, as the guides must go ahead with ropes, but the descent 
takes less time; you sit down on a mat of rushes and w-h-s-h-t! you are back 
at the rancho — at least that's the way the sulphur miners in the crater go 
and return from work. 

You may have the grandest view of the world, and a toboggan slide 
which, if it ends in your favor, you will never forget, and if it ends ad- 
versely for you, your friends will remember it, and you will have the highest 
and whitest monument on earth for them to point to; you would gain a 
monument which might not be accorded you if you had not made the as- 
cent, but really there is more of discomfort than danger. 

Popo Park is near by, a very attractive resort, and a good place to stay 
during your outing. 

Amecameca is on the Interoceanic Railway, thirty-five miles from the City 
of Mexico. 

Catorce* Nearly every town in Mexico has a name that may be trans- 

Kali-tor'-see lated to mean something. Catorce means, in the Spanish 
language, fourteen. It is a mining town; the mines were discovered by a 
band of bandits, fourteen in number, and for want of a better name it was 
called the Real de Catorce. Silver was discovered here about the year 1780, 
and the district at once took rank among the most important in Mexico. 
Ore of fabulous richness was found, and the records show that for more 
than thirty years, commencing with 1790, the value of the output amounted 
to over three million dollars annually. Here are hundreds of mines and miles 
of shafting and tunneling. The drainage tunnel of one mine alone, the San 
Agustin, extends into the mountain for more than a mile and a half, and 
was excavated at a cost of a million and a half dollars. For its entire length 
a tramway has been constructed which is operated by mule power. Catorce 
should be one of the very interesting places in ]\Iexico to the tourist. Here 
are found the customs of Mexico in their purity, unaffected by the influence 
of the stranger. Difficult of access, the town can only be reached b}^ horse- 
back, or on foot. The ride up the mountains to the town is something, once 
accomplished, always to be remembered, partl}^ from its element of personal 
peril, but more because of the beauty of the landscape encountered at every 
turn. Glancing down as you near your journey's end. you catch the gleam 
of the white walls of the town of Los Catorce outlined against the green 
of the mountain side. Thousands of feet below shimmer the waters of a 
mountain stream. The shifting coloring of the mountains, as light and shade 
chase each other over their ragged expanse, the browns and greens of the 
valley far below, and the hills in the hazy distance, are exceedingly beautiful. 
The Real de Catorce is built on the side of a ravine near the top of the 
range, and has a varying population of from 8.000 to 22.000, as the mines 
are paying poorly or well. Here are found all varieties of silver ore, from 
carbonate to refractory ore, assaying $15,000 to the ton. Catorce has a fine 



165 

church, richly decorated, and a pretty plaza, the only level spot in the place. 
To use a railroad phrase, it is a combination of a cut and a fill, so that to 
tumble into it on one side or out on the other would be extremely disastrous. 
The streets are neatly paved, and run up and down hill, many of them at an 
angle of forty-five degrees. 

The story of the wheels or. rather, the no-wheels, is a true one, literally, 
with the single exception in the conveying (was about to say "carting," but 
conveying is better), a carriage on burros to the city by a rich mine owner, 
but was abandoned; the wheels would roll one way easily enough, but it was 
difficult to get back to the starting point, and the innovation of wheels at 
Catorce was not accomplished. 

Catorce may be reached by horses or burro-back from the station of the 
same name, on the Mexican National Railroad, 435 miles from the City of 
Mexico, or from Vanegas by a branch road that runs to the city. 




PLAZA, CATORCE. 

Campeclie. The capital of the State of the same name is on the 
Cam-pay-Che west shore of the peninsula of Yucatan, and the State 
of Campeclie was once a province of Yucatan. The wide Bay of Cam- 
peche extends from Cape Palma across to Vera Cruz, with scarcely a good 
harbor on its long shore line; the open roadstead at Campeche where the San 
Francisco River empties is only ten to twelve feet deep, six miles from shore. 
Campeche was founded by the Spanish about 1550 and soon came to be a 
walled city as a protection against privateers and buccaneers that infested 
these shores in the early days, and the city was three times looted within 
twenty-six years. 

The site of the city has been twice changed, but it is probably perma- 
nently located now over the old Maya, underground chambers dug out for 
what no one knows, except the long dead Mayas. 

The Plaza de la Independencia is a picturesque place in the city's center, 



166 



where the band plays in the evening and the people parade under the shade of 
tropical trees. 

In the interior not far from Campeche are some remains of ancient temples, 
or palaces, not unlike those of Uxmal in Yucatan, though not so extensive. 

A railroad from Campeche to Merida was completed and opened for traffic 
in July, 1898, but there is as yet no connection with the interior system of the 
Republic, and Campeche must be reached by ships plying the waters of the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

Celaya. It was more than three hundred years ago that the fame of the 

See-li'-ya beautiful Laja Valley came to the ears of the Spanish king, 
and through his Viceroy, Don Martin Enriquez de Alamanza, a company of 
sixteen married 
men and their 
wives, and seven- 
teen young bach- 



chosen, probably 
ever knew, and the 
not. By these the 
founded, October 
the name of Zelaya, 




GOING TO MARKET. 



elors, was 
sent north 
to spy cut 
the land 
and to build a 
town in the val- 
ley. Just why 
this particular 
combination o f 
married men and 
bachel o r s was 
only Don Martin 
chronicler sayeth 
city of Celaya was 
1 2th. 1570, under 
which, in the Bis- 



cayan tongue, means "level land," but it was not until nearlv a hundred vears 
later, October 20th, 1655, that Philip IV decreed it a city, 'and not till three 
years later that the citizens heard of their metropolitan good fortune. 

Since its founding Celaya has not figured greatly in the countrv's his- 
tory. Built in a peaceful valley, its ways have been the ways of peace, and, 
although located on the main highways of the country, the city has escaped 
the rigors, and I doubt very much if its people heard much more than the 
rumors of wars. If you come from the north or the south, the east or the 
west, you may see the towers of Celaya from afar ofif, across the broad plains, 
as you may see a ship coming from sea; as the sails are seen first, the rounded 
domes come to view above the trees, the towers of the Church of Our Lady 
of Carmen or of San Agustin. One of the most beautiful in this land of 



167 



churches, is the Church of Our Lady of Carmen in Celaya. It is in form a 
Latin cross, 220 feet long and fifty-five feet wide, by sixty-nine feet high. Not 
an old church, as churches go in Mexico, this one was commenced in 1803, 
and completed in 1807. The magnificent adornment, the frescoes and the su- 
perb paintings were by Eduardo Tresguerras, a native of Celaya, and an 
artist of renown, combining a superior knowledge of painting, sculpture and 
architecture in all his work. One of his famous paintings is of Our Lady of 
Carrnen, in the chapel of the Last Judgment, where are, also, some portraits 
of himself as a young and old man. Another notable picture is the Triumph 
of Mary, by Nicolas Rodriguez Juarez. This picture is much older than the 
others, having been painted in 1695; it was rescued from the fire which de- 
stroyed the old Church of Carmen. 

The Church of San Francisco, in the midst of a group of churches and 
chapels, was founded in 1570. Only the facade and dome of the original 
building remain; the other 
parts were erected in 1715, and 
the altars, the' exquisite work 
of Tresguerras, were added in 
the early part of the nineteenth 
century. The parish church and 
Tercer Orden are of the Fran- 
ciscan group, both built in the 
early part of the seventeenth 
century. In the little chapel of 
Dolores is the tomb of this 
great artist architect, built, also, 
by his hand. The Church of 
San Agustin, a short distance 
from the San Franciscan group, 
was built in 1603-10; the tower 
is by Tresguerras. This won- 
derful man, whose handiwork is 

in every Celayan church, with comrades 

such lines of exquisite art, was born in Celaya, May 13, 1765, and died there 
August 3, 1833. He left, in his own work, this Michael Angelo of Mexico, 
such monuments as might never have been erected to his fragrant memory. 

Celaya, in the midst of a most fertile agricultural district, is also a manu- 
facturing city of carpets and woolens, calicoes, rebosos, soaps and dulces; the 
dulces of Celaya are famous the country over. Dulces are sweet-meats, made 
from fruits and from milk; what bon-bons are to the French and candies are to 
the American sweet-tooth, the dulces are to the Mexican, and Celaya is where 
they make them to the queen's taste, so to speak. The sale of dulces is irot 
confined to the dulceria. The populace meet you at the train with boxes of 
dulces, as those of the surrounding country bring strawberries and opals 
to the passing trains, and lie in wait for the unsuspecting traveler — literally lie 
in wait, for no matter what the hour of arrival may be, the venders are there. 
They lie in their beds on the roadside and wait for the trains. They may not be 
officially notified of a change of schedule or of a delayed train, but that 
doesn't make any difference; they know it has to come some time and hav- 
ing nothing else to do, they just wait. Naturally disgusted by these waits, 
the prices when the train stops are bullish, but the bears get the best of it 
before it leaves, and when the conductor cries ^^vamanos!'''' you can buy the 
entire visible supply for a quarter. The train is besieged by the eager venders 
crying their wares: ^^Cajasf Cajasf'' (Cah — has) meaning boxes of dulces. 




168 




CATHEDBml- 



The theater, the 
portales, the baths 
and the markets are 
to be vi-ited, and, al- 
together, Celaya is 
one of the places 
where the lover of 
the beantiful will 
wish to linger. The 
city, in the State of 
Guanajuato, is locat- 
ed, commercially, to 
great advantage, at 
the crossing of the 
Mexican Central and 
Mexican National 
Railways, 182 miles 
from the City of 
Mexico. Horse cars 
run from both sta- 
tions to the main 
plaza in the center of 
the city, and they are 
far more comforta1)le 
than the hacks that 
rumble over the stony 
streets. 

Chihuahua. 

Che-wow'-wa 
Chihuahua is an 
old city, as most 
Mexican cities are; it 
was founded in 1539, 
by Diego de Ibarra. 
The ancient name 
was Taraumara, later 
San Felipe el Real, 
and then Chihuahua, 
meaning a "place 
where things are 
made." and not, par- 
ticularh^ a place of 
small dogs, as popu- 
larly supposed in the 
average tourist idea, 
though the pronunci- 
ation of the latter syl- 
lables might indicate 
that. 

The pronouncing of 
Mexican names seems 
an a I m o s t insur- 
mountable difficulty at 



169 

first, but the newest traveler soon grows familiar with them, and rolls them 
off as glibly as a native, and in a little while begins to tell how he used to 
pronounce Chihuahua and Jimenez — just as they are spelled — but now can say 
Che-wow-wa, in a tone of voice that would make a small dog, with a soft 
spot in its head, prick up its ears, as at a sound from home. 

The fame of the Chihuahua dogs has gone abroad throughout the land, 
and the native has_bulled the market accordingly; the demand largely ex- 
ceeds the supply, ihe dogs are noted, primarily, for their diminutive size, 
sharpness of nose and length of toe nails; but if they possess any further at- 
tribute, the fact has not been reported. It has been suggested that the soft 
place on the head of the genuine article has been left for an after injection 
of brains. I speak thus, firstly, of dogs, because it is probable that the first 
man to greet you, when you get off the train at Chihuahua, will have one under 
his arm. It is a small dog that the man has under his arm, as it is proper 
for a Chihuahua dog to be. but if you buy you may live to wonder how large 
a small dog may grow to be. 




AQUEDUCT AT CHIHUAHUA. 

The train, as it comes from the north, or the south, comes from behind 
high, intervening hills, so there is no view of the city until it stops at the 
station. The city is on the west side of the track, and, as the train passes 
over the barranca, between the shops and the station, there is a good view 
of the town, with the high towers of the Church of San Francisco standing 
out against the western sky. 

Few Mexican towns are located conveniently near the railway stations, 
and Chihuahua^, is not an exception; street cars there are, and hacks, for all 
parts of the city. The car line from the station passes the Mint, State Capitol, 
Hidalgo Statue, the plaza. Church of San Francisco, the market, the hotels 
and on through the old paseo to the Santuario de Guadalupe; the fare, six 
cents takes you to nearly all the places of interest. A carriage must be taken 
for the new paseo and alameda, and the fine views from the hill in the south 
part of the city, for which the prices vary according to the style of turnout, 
from one to two dollars an hour, with a twenty-five cent fare for short dis- 
tance rides, as from the station to the plaza. 

Being near the border. Chihuahua is a much Americanized town, and there 




170 

are many fine buildings, of a semi-Mexican-American 
style of architecture, on the principal streets, around the 
plaza and along the new paseo and alameda. The State 
Palace is a handsome edifice, on the street leading from 
the station; in the rear is a plazuela, with a fine monu- 
ment and statue of Hidalgo on the spot 
where he was executed, July 31, 181 1, 
and his compatriots, Allende, Aldama 
and Jiminez, on June 26, of the same 
year. Just opposite the palace, in an old 
building, formerly the Hospital Real, 
is the Mint; in one of the rooms of the square tower, over the entrance, 
the patriots were confined previous to their execution. The manufacture 
of money in the mint is not as crude as the old house seems to be; the 
dollars drop from the stamps, sixty every minute, while the wheels turn. The 
silver for the most part comes from the mine of Santa Eulalia, near the city, 
one of the richest in the country, and one of the oldest. A tribute, levied 
by the clergy, in the early days, of twenty-five cents on each pound of silver, 
produced $800,000 for the building of the parish church. 

The Church of San Francisco, also called the Cathedral, is the parish 
church that cost so much money and time to build. It was commenced in 
1717, and not completed till 1789. It is said that an inclined plane of earth was 
raised against the walls during their building, on which the material was carried 
up, and by the time the towers were finished the plane extended beyond the 
plaza. The church faces the plaza and occupies such a position that the 
towers can be seen from all parts of the city. The facade is elaborately orna- 
mented; there are thirteen statues of San Francisco and the Twelve Apostles, 
and under the arches of the dome are basso-relievos of the fathers of the church. 
A broken bell is shown in one of the towers, as having been pierced by a 
cannon ball fired by the French during the bombardment of the city in 1866. 
The church of the Compaiiia was founded by the Jesuits, under Don Manuel 
de Santa Cruz, in 1717. Another church is that of San Felipe Neri, also the 
Santuario de Nuestra Sehora de Guadalupe, at the extreme west side of the 
city, just beyond the terminus of the horse-car line, at the end of the old 
paseo, where there is a remarkable image of San Ygnacio Loyola. 

Just beyond the sanctuary of Guadalupe, beyond the top of the hill, is the 
old aqueduct of the city's water supply, a continuous line of stone arches, 
about four miles long, built a hundred years ago, but in a fine state of pres- 
ervation. Near here are, also, the principal baths of the city. The old paseo, 
or alameda, is much neglected, but the new one is too modern to be par- 
ticularly interesting, except for the fine views of the city and the surround- 
ing mountains; El Coronel was so called from the execution of a revolutionary 
colonel at that point. 

Chihuahua was for years the market for all northern Mexico, the trading 
trains traveling between that city and Santa Fe. Col. Doniphan, of the United 
States army, occupied the city in 1847, and afterwards made the famous march 
to the south and joined Gen. Taylor. 

Chihuahua, the capital of the State of Chihuahua, is on the Mexican Central 
Railway, 999 miles from the City of Mexico. 

Chilpaucitigo . The Capital of the State of Guerrero is one of the 

Chil-pan-seen'-go oldest Spanish settlements in the southern part of 

Mexico, so far in the interior, shut in by ranges of high mountains so that 

it was for years of only local importance. But it is noted in the history of 

the country as the place of assembly of the first Congress of Mexico, Sep- 



171 

tember 13th, 1813, three years after the raising of the standard of the Republic 
by Hidalgo and two years after his death. Chilpancingo is in the center of 
an unexplored district abounding in prehistoric ruins and wonderful caverns 
reached via the Cuernavaca division of the Mexican Central Railway. 

Coatzacoalcos. Is important as the eastern terminal of the Tehuan- 
Ko-at-zah-co-al'-cose tepee Railway at the mouth of the river of the same 
name and destined to be what it was in Cortez time the best harbor on the 
Gulf coast. The port is now called Puerto de Mexico. 

Colitna. The little state of Colima, of which Colima is the capital, 

Col-e'-mah is on the Pacific coast of the Republic with its chief seaport 

at Manzanillo, with which it is connected by a railway of twenty-eight miles 

in length. Near by is the volcano of Colima, about 12,000 feet high, one of 




PACKING ICE FROM THE VOLCANO OF COUIMA 

the few active volcanoes in Mexico, having been in eruption more or less 
since 1869. Under the name of Santiago de los Caballeros, Colima was founded 
by Don Gonzalo de Sandobal under a decree of Philip II of Spain. Colima 
is reached by rail from Manzanillo on the Pacific or via -the Mexican Central 
from Guadalajara. 

Cordoba. To go to Cordoba means to go to the tropics; indeed, the 
Cord'-ova little city is just on the border of *.he tierra caliente, as the 
Mexicans call the hot country, in the foot-hills of the mountain ranges, with 
an elevation that offers a comparative immunity from the malarial fevers of 
the lowlands. In fact the location of the town was made with the idea of 
a place of refuge from the plains below, when it was founded, April 18, 1618, 
under an order from the then viceroy, Don Diego Fernandez de Cordoba. 



172 

who knew the fertility of the valley of the Rio Seco, and chose the hill of 
Xitango as the site of the city to be called by his name. 

The tropical scenes have become familiar on the ride hither; the train 
stops at a station, under palm trees, and the horse-car ride, uptown, is 
through coffee groves and bananas, with gardens everywhere, with every fruit 
that ripens under the tropic sun, oranges, lemons, guavas, pineapples, chiri- 
moyas and granaditas. After this ride through the woods and the gardens, 
you come to the narrow streets, where the low houses, roofed with red tiles, 
have long projecting eaves that shade the narrower sidewalks — picturesque to 
a degree. The plaza and the market may be something like the other towns, 
but there is the tropic charm that the others do not possess. Within a square 
of the market there is one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. It is 
a tangled mass of fruits and flowers overhanging winding walks, with foun- 
tains, here and there, and pagodas for resting places. 

The churches are San Antonio, founded in 1686, and San Hipolito, in 1793; 
the latter was also a convent and hospital. On the plaza is shown a house 
where Maximilian stopped over night on his way to the capital, and another 
where was signed, by Iturbide and the Viceroy O'Donoju, the treaty acknowl- 
edging the Independence of Mexico. 

Sunday is a great day in Cordoba, when the country folk come to town 
from Amatlan, and other villages roundabout, not in silk attire, but in the 
gaudiest cotton, in all the colors of the rainbow and in the plumage of the 
birds of their primeval forests; the trimmings are on the whitest of white cot- 
ton — beads of coral, laces of their own handiwork and ornaments of silver, till 
they are a sight to see. 

Cordoba, in the State of Vera Cruz, is located on the Mexican Railway, 
198 miles from the City of Mexico. 

Cuautla. Long before the train arrives at Cuautla, the place where the 
Kwout'-la city lies may be pointed out, but for its surrounding, and al- 
most overcovering of green trees, it can not be seen, save the white spot 
of tower gleaming in the sunshine. Down where the sugar cane grov/s, on 
the southern slope of the hills that are beyond the volcanoes, is the very 
pretty little town, in the midst of fertile fields and luxuriant gardens of fruits 
and flowers, a very picture of tropical beauty. In the approach to the town 
the train backs in on a Y and comes to a stop in the quaintest railway station 
imaginable. To what base uses may we come! This railway station was 
once a convent and church; the tower and bells are still there, and it may 
be that the confessional is the ticket office and the altar a desk for way-bills; 
the nave is a storage-room for freights, and where was the convent-yard now 
resounds with the locomotive's whistle. Just outside this church-station is 
the prettiest plaza imaginable, with playing fountains of clear water under 
the trees that shade the streets and the park, where there is a music-stand, 
seats and promenades for the people, and on the opposite side a very good 
hotel indeed, not good alone for Mexico, but good for a 
town of Cuautla's size anywhere, with a garden of fruits that 

will justify any description. The 
streets of Cuautla run at right angles 
with low adobe houses on each side, 
but presently they merge into shady 
lanes, hedged with cactus, behind 
which are thatched huts of reeds and 
rushes almost hidden by the bananas, 
the orange and lemon trees, trailing vines and bowers. 
These are Cuautla's chief charms, and amply repay the 




-^ 



173 

rambles of a day's visit. Everywhere is running water, through the streets 
and roads, in the gardens and parks, along the railroad track and through the 
fields. These native engineers have taken the river from its bed, made its 
waters run where they willed, till the land blossoms as the rose. 

A horseback, or a ride by burros, may be made to sulphur baths, just east 
of the town, and to the old stone bridge over the Rio Xuchitengo, or to 
the hacienda of Coahuixtla, either of which is well worth the ride — the baths 
of fine medicinal qualities, the antiquity of the massive bridge, or the charm- 
ing novelty of hacienda life in the lowlands. 

Cuautla was a city when Cortez came and took possession. The date of 
the Spanish city is from 1605. After the war for Independence the city re- 
ceived the surname of Morelos, and is now called Cuautla-Morelos, in honor 
of General Morelos, who so heroically defended it against the Royalist forces 
under General Calleja, who laid siege February 19. 1812, and so completely 
drew his lines about the place that it was impossible to get in or out. There 
was more or less fighting for nearly three months, till Morelos was forced 
to evacuate, which he did effectually, but not until he was starved out. It is 
said that, during the siege, food was so scarce that cats were sold for six 
dollars, and rats and lizards for one and two dollars. 

The parish Church of Santiago was founded in 1605, and the Church of 
San Diego furnishes the Interoceanic with the oldest railway station in the 
world, dating from the seventeenth century. There are chapels, shrines and 
churches in the town, of various dates and names, but they are not so nu- 
merous in the lowlands as they are up in the hill country. 

The sugar industry may be further investigated by a stop at the great 
Hacienda de Santa Inez, on the line of the railway, three miles west of Cuau- 
tla. The manager is an afifable and courteous gentleman, and most hospita- 
ble withal. Cuautla is in the State of Morelos, on the Interoceanic Railway, 
eighty-five miles from the City of Mexico. 

Cuemavaca. The scenery is wonderfully grand; the ascent from the 
Kwer'-na-vaca valley of Mexico is with a winding, twisting track from 
the plains to the mountain, and the view looking back over the cities of the 
plain, the lakes, the volcanoes and lesser mountains makes a picture that 
is not easily described. The climb continues till an altitude of 10,000 feet 
is attained, then the descent commences and continues on to Cuernavaca. The 
grand views of mountain and valley scenery are in endless variety and with- 
out cessation throughout the journey. 

The old Indian name. Cuauhnahuac, has a more impressive meaning, "near 
the trees," than the Spanish word Cuernavaca, "cow-horn," though it is prob- 
able that Cuernavaca is merely a corruption of Cuauhnahuac. Some Spanish 
soldier heard the Indian name and laughing said, "Oh, Cuernavaca," and 
the town was named. 

The high headland, covered with trees, between the deep barrancas would 
seem to give origin to the ancient name, anyhow it does give to the town a 
most picturesque and delightful location. The mountain streams have been 
changed in their courses, and through reservoirs, sent through the streets 
and gardens, till the town is one vast garden in itself. 

The Calle Nacional is the principal street, and the Jardin Benito Juarez, 
the Plaza Mayor, of course, the plaza of the town. The State Capitol is in 
a building that was once the palace of Cortez, and here, in this place, the 
conqueror rested before his second advance on the City of Mexico, and here 
the great adventurer spent some of the last years of his life, and when you 
have seen it you will not wonder at his choice. 

There were millionaires in those days, who were only poor boys, just as 



174 

in these days and this country, and Cuernavaca points with pride to the house 
where Jose de la Borda lived. The native will tell you of his millions made 
in mining, the amount, from forty to fifty millions, taken from mines at Tlal- 
pujahua, Tasco and Zacatecas. You will be shown the garden of fruits and 
flowers, the Jardin de la Borda, with terraced slopes, lakelets, cascades and 
fountains that cost a million, and it may have cost more, for it is very beau- 
tiful, indeed. And the native will tell you of the big church at Tasco, fifty 
miles away, where Don Jose placed another million. 

Before the Conquest of Mexico Cuernavaca was the capital of the Tla- 
huicas, an independent tribe, until they were made tributary to Tenochtitlan 
under Mocteuczoma Ilhuicamina and during the siege the province of Cuer- 
navaca furnished reinforcements to Montezuma. While the bergantines were 
being built Cortez made a reconnoissance in the direction of Cuernavaca and 




JARDIN DE LA BORDA, CUERNAVACA. 

arrived in front of the city in April, 1521, with a band of thirty cavalry. 300 
infantry and a large body of his Tlaxcalan allies, but a deep gulch, the Bar- 
ranca of Amanalco, prevented their entrance to the town. It was very nar- 
row and the Spaniards were harassed by the shower of arrows from Tlahuicas 
on the other side where they were entrenched and safe from the fire of the 
Spanish. 

Cortez sent a detachment up and down the Barranca to find a crossing 
but they were unsuccessful. Finally a Tlaxcalan Indian noticed two gigantic 
trees growing on opposite sides of the gulch with their trunks inclined to 
the center so that the branches intertwined and formed a sort of suspension 
bridge over which the Tlaxcalan quickly passed and was followed by many 
Others, among whom was Bernal Diaz del Castillo; and notwithstanding the 



175 

heavy armor of the Spaniards only three fell down the barranca. The T!a- 
huicas were taken by surprise; they were busy fighting across the Barranca 
and had not noticed the enemy crossing through the branches of the trees, 
and Cortez, having restored one of the destroyed bridges, crossed his cav- 
alry and the rest of the infantry. The Tlahuicas fled to the mountains, the 
villages around the city were burned and the houses pillaged. Soon the Tzins 
returned and were brought trembling before Cortez. who, satisfied with their 
humiliation, ordered the cessation of hostilities, and took possession of the 




THE LIZARD OF SAN ANTON. 

town. After the occupation of the City of Mexico by the Spaniards, Cortez 
returned to Cuernavaca and for a time made it his home and constructed the 
great palace that is now used as the State Capitol. Near the end of January, 
1529, the friars that were to found the Convent of San Francisco came to 
Cuernavaca; this convent was afterwards the parish church and is now the 
Cathedral. It is more a group of churches and chapels, with connecting roofs 
and walls; the tower contains a clock that was once in the cathedral of Se- 
govia, presented to Cortez by Charles V of Spain. Asuncion is the parish 
church; the others are San Pedro, Tercer Orden and Guadalupe, the latter 
built by de la Borda; Guadalupe is in the suburbs of the city. 



176 

Charles V. gave to Cuernavaca the title of Villa, but it was not made a 
city till October 14th, 1834; in October and November, 1855, here was the seat 
of government under the Plan of Ayutla, presided over by General Don Juan 
Alvarez. During the Empire, Cuernavaca was the summer capital, and the 
Emperor Maximilian had a pretty little home and garden called "Olindo." 
and in the Jardin de la Borda he spent the few quiet days of his sojourn in 
Mexico, but his last visit was cut short by the rumor of a conspiracy for 
his assassination on the road when he should return to the City of Mexico. 
The houses of note are the Palace of Cortez, with the tradition that the Con- 
queror accomplished one of the killings of one of his wives here, but the 
story doubtless grew out of the drowning in the well at Coyoacan. In one 
of the rooms, however, the patriot Morelos was confined as a prisoner of 
war en route to the City of ]\Iexico. The Palacio de Gobierno is a new and 
very elegant building. The Theatre Porfirio Diaz is a very fine play-house 
containing also the public library. The churches, schools, hospitals and 
other charitable institutions are worthy of note. 

The whole country roundabout is full of interest, and it will take some days 
and horses to do the region as it should be done. There are the waterfalls in 
the Tlaltenango, Amanalco and San Antonio ravines. In the village of San 
Antonio, reached over a good road, are some potteries and a lake of great 
beauty; here also is another house of Cortez, near it a rock with some pre- 
historic carvings. On a neighboring hill is a lizard in stone, nearly nine feet 
long, and about three miles farther to the south is the hill Quauhtetl — '"the 
stone eagle," an eagle in stone that measures three feet from tip to tip. It is 
eighteen miles to the ruins of Xochicalco, which are intensely interesting and 
in every way worth the ride. One of the buildings, that may have been a 
temple, measures seventy-five feet long by sixty-eight feet wide, built of cut 
stone. Mr. Charles Dudley Warner says the views are most noble and of 
the Ruins there is nothing like them in Assyrian or Egyptian work. Some 
of the sugar plantations have old-time buildings, erected two centuries or more 
ago. notably on the Hacienda de Temisco; another hacienda is that of x\tla- 
comulco, where all the fruits of the tropics may be seen in the fields and 
gardens. One of the sugar haciendas was erected by Cortez and bequeathed by 
him to the Hospital of Jesus in the City of Mexico, and remains to this day 
the property of that institution. 

Cuernavaca is the capital of the State of jMorelos, and is reached by trains 
of the Cuernavaca division of the Mexican Central Ry., fifty miles from the City 
of Mexico. About seven miles away is the primitive Indian town of Juitepec, 
in which is an ancient church where a great feast is celebrated every j'-ear, 
a feast that combines the rites of the Christian church with pagan idolatries, 
and the dance of the natives in front of the church is the same as the dance 
of the Aztecs on the terraces of the teocalis. 

Culiacau. The capital of the State of Sinaloa, a typical ^lexican city, is en 
Cool-e-ah-kan' the river of the same name, about forty miles from the Pacific 
Ocean and 175 feet above it — connected with the port of Altata by rail. The 
Plaza Mayor has on three sides quaint old portales and on the other the Ca- 
thedral, and near by is the Seminary. The government has a fine mint here 
for the coining of gold and silver mined on the Pacific slope. The town was 
founded by Nuno Guzman in 1532 after he had exhausted his material for 
adventure in Guadalajara and the cities farther south. 
Duraugo. It may be called an Iron City, to follow the simile of the Silver 
Doo-rang'-o City as applied to some of the others of Mexico, though Durango 
has of silver enough to entitle her to some claim in that direction also; her 
best boast is in the baser metal. Within the corporate limits of the city of 



177 



Durango there is iron enough to supply the world for three hundred years, 
and yet, before the railroad was completed to the city, manufactured with 
wooden machinery and water power, the products of the wonderful iron 
mountain of Durango sold for thirty-five cents a pound, and if the mountain 
could be sold at that rate it would exhaust the treasures of the universe to pay 
for it; it is almost solid iron, the ore averaging from 75 to 90 per cent, of 
pure metal. The iron mountain is just north of the railway station, and only 
about half a mile distant. A cavalier in Cortez army, Sehor Mercado, was 
induced to come here by the report of a mountain of silver, but found iron 
only. The mountain is called Cerro Mercado in his honor. 

Durango is a city, spread out on a plain, with its streets, for the most part, 
running at right 
angles, with low, but 
substantial buildings 
on either side, with 
patios filled with 
flowers and foun- 
tains. Here and 
there are pretty plazas 
and plazuelas, with 
other fountains, and 
green trees galore. 
The Plaza Mayor is 
a garden, surrounded 
on its four sides by 
fine buildings of two 
to three floors, the 
State House being 
one of them, and one 
of the finest in Mex- 
ico; the others are 
stores and cafes. In 
the center is the artis- 
tic pagoda that com- 
pares so favorably 
with the prosaic 
"band-stand" of the 
United States. These 
of Mexico are always 
architecturally artis- 
tic, and always pretty, 
while ours are pain- 
fully and politically 

plain. The walks are in durango. 

paved and hedged about by flowering shrubs, native in name and to the land, 
they grow in. though there are also roses ■ and lilies. In this plaza the 
people most do congregate in the evenings, to promenade and to hear the 
music of the band. And here, again, the Mexican scores another against us. 
the music being furnished by the Government; the bands are under pay of 
the people and they must play for the people; there are stated days of the 
week for music, and at least twice of every week in the year the bands 
play. Here, in our country, we must pay for a seat to hear the Marine Band, 
or go to the dress parade of some regiment or battalion before we can hear 




178 

the music we have paid for, or if the band is induced outside the barracks 
it is for an extra stipend that the players are not entitled to. 

Near the northwest corner of Plaza Mayor is a pretty little plazuela, that is 
in the courtyard of a church and ancient convent, a most picturesque little 
nook where only the electric light is younger than a century or two. Two 
or three squares west is the beautiful alameda and the paseo, with their great 
big trees and the picturesque bridge across the little rio. At the end of the 
paseo, toward the north, is the public wash place, where there are scores of 
lavanderas to be seen washing clothes in a curiously arranged laundry of stone 
basins, through which there is running water. All of the pretty places are 
not in the city. Near it, within two or three leagues, are some of the most A^- 
X\^\i\.{v\ jar dins \n the world; these are not public gardens, however, but the 
property of private citizens, and admission is only by permission. 




PUBLIC LAUNDRY, DURANGO. 

Two squares east of the main plaza is the very interesting market, and all 
in this district a.re the stores that in their stocks and seeming activity are a 
surprise, but it is to be remembered that Durango was a great city for three 
hundred years before the railroad came, and was a market of supply for a 
very large territory of interior country. There is little to see of the city resi- 
dences, except a glimpse of the patios through the grated archways in the 
high surrounding walls, but there is sufficient in this to tell of their exceeding 
beauty of interior, whatever the uninviting exterior may be. It is thus of the 
hotels, also. A look into these of Durango is satisfying as to the comforts 
within; Vhe tables, with snowy covers, are either in the shaded patios or beneath 
the arched and pillared portales. 



179 , 

Three hundred and fifty years ago, the spot where Durango now is, was a 
ranch, and where now is the corner of Calks Principal and Teresas, was a large 
tree, under which an altar was built, and the first mass was said. Afterwards 
a little church was built at the corner of Calle Constitucion and Calle Mayor; 
this has been rebuilt, but many of the original timbers remain. The ranchero 
who owned the lands gave lots to settlers to increase the defense against the 
Indians.. Later a mine was discovered on his lands, his wealth increased fabu- 
lously, and a percentage of the output was levied for the building of the Cathe- 
dral. Afterwards he built the house now used as the Governor's Palace, and the 
adjoining theatre, all of stone, and the second theatre built in Mexico. He 
sent as a present to the King of Spain $2,000,000, asking permission to build 
galleries and portales of silver around his home. This was refused as a privi- 
lege pertaining to royalty only. He put up porches of wood, but on the 
occasion of a christening in his family he paved the street from his house to 




IRON MOUNTAIN, DURANGO. 

the church with silver bricks. The descendants of this Croesus live in Durango 
to-day, but they do not use silver as a pavement. 

The Cathedral was commenced in the year 1695, by Bishop Garcia de 
Legaspi, and the first public service was held in 1715, at which time was com- 
pleted the thirteen arches and one tower. The second tower and the other 
departments annexed to the temple, as they exist to-day, were not completed 
until 1844, under the direction of Sefior Zubiria. The entire work is of the 
Tuscan order of architecture. In the crypt are deposited the remains of eleven 
of the twenty-four bishops of Durango. During the latter part of the last 
century a terrible fire destroyed all the archives and antiquities, and the polit- 
ical revolts of 1854 to i860 finished all the books and modern documents. The 



t 



i80 




181 

Church of San Francisco is the oldest of all the Durango churches, the first 
foundations having been laid, on this spot, in 1556; and in that year was 
established the first Spanish settlement, under Fray Diego de la Cadena. This 
first temple was solemnly blessed in 1563, on the reception of the mandates from 
the Viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, at the hands of Captain Alonso Pacheco. 
The Church of San Agustin was founded in 1626, by the first Bishop of 
Durango, Fray Gonzalo de Hermosillo, a religioso of the order of San Agus- 
tin. In this church is a very notable image of Jesus, the Nazarene, that was 
brought from Spain in 1673, to which tradition attributes an infinity of miracles. 
Santa Ana is a very modern foundation for Mexico; it was commenced in 
1777 and completed during the episcopacy of Don Francisco Javier Olivares 
in 1809. El Colegio was erected by the Jesuits in 1684 as a part of the college 
they directed until 1720, the year in which was founded a seminary in the same 
building. This church opened to the public in 1776, when the Parroquia was 
transferred here from the cathedral. El Santuario de Guadalupe was built in 
1714 by the 12th Bishop of Durango, Don Pedro Tapiz; the interior was 
renewed in 1885. Analco, one of the primitive churches, was founded by the 
first Spanish settlers, in 1560, in the only place inhabited by the Indians who 
lived in this valley. The ruins of this church were reconstructed, in 1862, 
by Don Geronimo Silva. San Juan de Dios was founded as a hospital in 
1770- On a high hill overlooking the city, and which may be seen for miles 
before you reach the city, and from every part of it when you arrive there, is the 
old church of Los Remedios, a very ancient foundation, said by some to 
antedate the Cathedral. Every pilgrim who will visit this church on the 8th 
of September of each year subtracts seven years from his stay in purgatory. 

There is nothing new in Durango, except the very modern railway station, 
built of stone, for use both as a passenger station and residence of the agent. 
It is surrounded by a pretty lawn, shaded by young trees. Street cars run 
from the station ' to the plaza and the hotels, and throughout the city, car- 
riages may be hired for places not reached by the cars. Durango is the capital 
of the State of the same name, on the main line of Mexican International 
Railroad, 155 miles from Torreon, the junction with the Mexican Central 
Railway, 706 miles from the City of Mexico. 

Gomez Palacio. One of the very newest towns in Mexico, three miles north 
Go-mez Pah-lah-cio of Torreon, on the Mexican Central Railway. Noted for 
its manufactures, cotton industries, etc. Electric cars run to Lerdo and to 
Torreon. 

Guadalajara. Early in the sixteenth century an expedition, under the cruel 
Wahd-tha-la-har'-a and treacherous Nufio de Beltran Guzman, started to the 
northwest, and proceeded as far as the boundaries of the present State of 
Jalisco; and, in the year 1530, the band under Juan de Ofiate founded a city 
under the name of Villa del Espiritu Santo de Guadalajara, not, however, on 
the site of the present city, and the orke chosen soon proved to be undesirable. 
Another, in the Tlalcotlan Valley, was selected, and the settlement moved 
there. This location was as bad as the first, and, ia the absence of Guzman, 
who, on account of his atrocities, had been recalled to Spain, a third selection 
was made, this time by the people themselves, in the beautiful valley called by 
the Indians Atemaxac, and there was founded, in 1541, the present city of 
Guadalajara, which has become the cleanest, brightest, and most delightfui 
city in all the regions roundabout. There is always a desire on the part of 
the traveler to proceed to the Capital, to the City of Mexico, and whatever 
may retard his going there at once seems to him to defer a pleasure. That 
may be, but, once in the Capital, and having done its more metropolitan attrac- 
tions, it is easier to see the charms of other cities, and if a well-worn and 



182 



time-honored policy of ''save the best for the last," were to be carried out, the 
Capital would be nearer the first, and Guadalajara very near indeed to the end 
of the string. It is one of the most charming, most fascinating places in the 
world in every way. It is beautifully located; the climate is superb, every 
day being one of springtime; the streets are clean as a floor that is swept; the 
parks and plazas are ever green with pretty trees, and brightened with lovely 
flowers, that bloom in December as in June. Guadalajara may weli be written 

down as Mexico's famous city. 
Every street and plaza has some 
^novel attraction, and its suburbs 
some novelty not found else- 
where, and in the near neighbor- 
hood such views of lake, cascade 
and caiion beauties as are not sur- 
passed in the world. The one 
single objection to the city is, 
that it has been repaired, reno- 
vated and repainted — and this lat- 
ter, covering up the wrinkles of 
age with fresh color, is to be 
deprecated, on any pretext — but, 
in reality, none of this detracts 
from the pleasure of a visit. 
Long before the train arrives at 
the station the towers of the Ca- 
thedral can be seen, and the out- 
lines of the city discerned. The 
view is from the windows of the 
right-hand side of the cars. 
Guadalajara lies in the midst of a 
plain — on three sides rising in 
terraces to the mountains that al- 
most surround it, and on the west 
side is the jumping-ofif place to 
the tierra caliente where the moun- 
tains seem to cease, and the plain 
and sky come together. This 
train does not stop on the out- 
skirts, as at most places in Mex- 
ico, but comes to a station in the 
city, near the garden of San 
Francisco, and very near the prin- 
cipal plaza. The streets run at 
right angles, intersecting the 
parks and plazas, of which there 
THE MURiLLO, GUADALAJARA. are a scorc or more, with fourteen 

portales that cover the sidewalks for many squares, fourteen bridges, five the- 
atres, that of Degollado being the largest on the continent, except, perhaps, the 
Metropolitan Opera House, in New York, or the Auditorium, of Chicago. It is 
a handsome building of white stone, with a fine portico supported by massive 
columns. The original intention was to include a hotel in the building, but 
this idea has not at this writing been carried out. There are five tiers of seats, 
stalls and boxes, and the decorations are very handsome indeed. The Degol- 
lado was opened in 1866 by the famous Mexican cantatrice, Peralta. The other 





183 

theatres are the Apollo, Principal and the Circo de Pro- 
greso. There are twenty-five baths, twenty-three res- 
taurants, and twenty-eight hotels, and when it is remem- 
bered that this city did not have a railroad till 1888, 
these statistics have more import. The public buildings, 
the Cathedral, Governor's Palace, the Mint, Degol- 
lado Theatre, the Hospicio, the Penitentiary, the Hos- 
pital de Belen, and the State Capitol of Jalisco are all 
fine specimens of Mexican architecture not expected in 
this far-away place. The Paseo is a boulevard drive on 
both sides of the Rio San Juan de Dios, which runs 

northward in the eastern part 
of the city; the drive extends 
from the Alameda to the 
southern boundary. Besides 
the Alameda the principal 
parks are the Plaza de 
Armas, Jardm Botanico, 
Parque Alcalde, and the Cal- 
zada de San Pedro, beauti- 
fully adorned with tropical 
trees and ever-blooming flow- 
ers. As to churches, the Ca- 
thedral is a magnificent struc- 
ture. The original foundation 
was laid in 1548, in a hut 
thatched with straw. The 
present building was com- 
menced in 1561, the corner 
stone w^as laid ten years later, 
on July 31st, by Bishop 
Ayala, and the building was 
completed in 1618; the tow- 
JUAN PANDURO, THE NOTED INDIAN SCULPTOR. ers v/ere throwii down by the 

earthquake of 1818. The clock between the towers was also injured by 
the earthquake. The interior is rich in decorations and paintings; one, 
the Assumption, by Murillo, for which an offer of 75,000 dollars gold 
was refused by the Archbishop, is especially fine, and there are others 
too numerous to attempt description. The two towers are wholly un- 
like any others in Mexico, but more like the steeples of the churches of this 
country. In one of them is the "Campanita del Correo," literally, the little bell 
of the courier, or post, which rang only in announceii^ent of some event of 
importance. Another bell, called San Clemente, was, in fornier times, rung 
during a thunder storm, to ward off the lightning. An adjunct to the Cathedral 
is the Sagrano, a comparatively new structure, commenced in 1808 and com- 
pleted in 1843. 

The other churches are San Francisco, San Agustin, San Felipe, La Com- 
pafiia, Guadaluue, Mexicaltzingo, Jesus Maria, Capuchinas, Santa Teresa, Santa 
Maria, La Merced, Santa Monica, El Carmen, San Jose de Analco, San Sebas- 
tian de Analco, La Parroqua de Jesus, San Juan de Dios, Aranzazu, La Sole- 
dad, San Diego, Belen, La Concepcion, La Trinidad y la Parroqua del Pilar, 
with others in course ot construction. 

One of the most famous institutions of Guadalajara is the Hospicio, and 
one of the most notable in the world. It is a handsome building of white 
stoae, covermg an entire square, and containing twenty-three patios, or courts, 




184 

with fountains and flowers. It is not a hospital, as popularly supposed, but an 
asylum home for the poor of all ages, from the baby in the cradle to old men 
and women bent with their infirmities. The institution is admirably managed, 

under authority of the 
State of Jalisco. Chil- 
dren are taught all that 
may be learned in 
schools, and as they 
grow older they learn 
some useful occupation 
in the arts and sci- 
ences, and the product 
of their labor is of- 
fered for sale, in sup- 
port of the HospiciO; 
among which are some 
of the most exquisite 
embroideries and laces, 
made by the girls. Mu- 
sic, painting and calis- 
thenics are a part of 
the tuition, while the 
more practical matters 
of life involve serious 
attention. No permit of 
entrance is required. 
You will be met at the 
gate by one of the Sis- 
ters in charge, and 
placed under the guid- 
ance of an attendant, 
who will show you 
one of the most inter- 
esting" places you may 
THE Hospicio. , find in all your travels. 

The Hospital de Belen is interesting even to the casual visitor, and intensely so 
to the medical man. It is a building of one story only, but covering an immense 
area, as each of the four sides measures over a thousand feet. The interior is 
curiously arranged — from a central court radiate six long, narrow wards, that 
are each 260 feet long by 24 feet wide, in which are maintained over 800 beds — the 
physicians in charge may stand in this central court, and simply turning half 
around may see what is going on in each ward, may see each of the 800 beds 
without moving from his position. One ward is used for the sick from the pri-^- 
ons, is protected by a heavy grating and guarded. The Hospital was founded by 
Senor Bishop Fray Antonio Alcalde, and .was opened in 1791. The Penitentiary is 
built on much the same plans as the Hospital, with long corridors, radiating 
from the central patio — so that a guard of fifty men in the central court might 
hold at bay 2,000 prisoners in case of revolt, or one rapid-fire machine gun with 
half a dozen men could hold them in check. The towers seen from the right- 
hand windows of the cars, on the approach to the city of Guadalajara, are 
at San Pedro, a surburb of Guadalajara. The village is about two leagues 
east of the city, and can be reached by street cars that start from near the 




185 

northeast corner of the main plaza, and ran over a very picturesque road, 
the Calzada de San Pedro, shaded by large trees and ends in a very pretty 
plaza. The wealthier class of Guadalajara have their summer residences at 
San Pedro, and some of their houses are very beautiful indeed. The famous 
Guadalajara ware, that is known the world over, is from the potteries of San 
Pedro. If you will walk two squares east on the street that leads from the south- 
east corner of the plaza of San Pedro, turn down to the right half a square, 
you will come to a low adobe house on the left side of the street. The latch 
string is on the outside, and a warm welcome within its doors from Juan 
Panduro, the Indian sculptor, who will show and sell samples of his exquisite 
handiwork, or, rather, their handiwork, for there are two artists — father and 
son; and if you desire a bust or statuette of yourself of life-like likeness, it may 




CHURCH OF SAN JOSE, GUADALAJARA. 

be modeled while you wait, afterwards baked and sent to your hotel, or the 
artists will call at the hotel and do the modeling in your room. 

There are four street-car lines leading to as many suburbs, each an interest- 
ing ride. If there is time to do them all they are worth it. 

But to the Barranca is not so easy a journey, yet not one that even the 
fatigue of a burro ride will bring regrets. Tram cars take you across the plain 
in an hour, then there is another hour by burro for the descent ; this latter hour 
is worth a hundred anywhere else for the very novelty of it. It is a narrow wind- 
ing path down the mountain side, a path just wide enough for the trains of 
burros to pass as they go up and down. They come to the mouth of the cafion 
without any hint of it till you are on the brink of a yawning chasm that looks 
ten thousand feet deep, but it is not quite so much as that; it is only two thou- 



186 



sand feet, and the road makes the descent in little more than a mile, though 
its crooks and turns make it about three miles; these crooks and turns are 
so short that a train of twenty burros will in some places have four turns m it, 
so that the riders see each other immediately above and below, as in a wind- 
ing stairs. 

The scenery is grandly magnificent and wholy indescribable, so wildly pic- 
turesque, not as seen from a car window; here you are in the very midst 
of great castled rocks, frowning precipices and unfathomable abysses, passing 
first the scraggy mountain oaks till, in the lower road, the path is through a 
forest of bananas and shaded by their broad leaves. At the bottom of the bar- 
ranca is the Lerma River, here called the Rio de Santiago, and on either side 
the towering mountains lift up in perpendicular cliffs, in the grandest pictures 
of sublime magnificence. A little ferry, with narrow boats pulled from side 
to side by a rope, transfers passengers and the freight brought by the burros, 
while the poor little beasts that never get a ride anywhere must swim here. 
The return takes a little longer time, as the ascent is more difficult, but the 
riding is more comfortable going up hill, and the journey back to the city is 
about four hours. All in all the trip is worth the fatigue of it. 

Near Guadalajara are the beautiful Falls of Juanacatlan, a cascade with a 
clear leap of over seventy-one feet — a veritable Niagara, of somewhat abbre- 
viated dimensions, but, truly, the wonder of this country. Like the greater 
Niagara of the North, the waters have been harnessed to turn the wheels of 
mills and factories and the dynamos for the lights of Guadalajara. To reach 
the Falls of Juanacatlan, stop at the station of El Castillo, either as you come 
or go, or take the little accommodation train that 
makes one or two trips each day from Guadala- 
jara. Guadalajara is the capital of the State of 
Jalisco, and is on the western division of the Mexi- 
can Central Railway, 381 miles from the City of 
Mexico. 

Guanajuato. The nomenclature of the cities and 

Wan-ah-wah'-to towns of Mexico requires a curious 
spelling that is often at variance with the prQ4iun- 
ciation, but when once you know how to call' the 
names they are as musical as at first they seem hard 
to say. The derivation of these names is for the 
most part from the Tarascan or the Otomite tongue, 
or of Toltec or Aztec origin, in latter days given- a- 
Spanish spelling which, properly enunciated, bears 
some resemblance to the original. The Tarascan 
Indians named this place Quanashuato, signifying 
the hill of the frogs, and the Spaniards changed 
either spelling or pronouncing very little when they 
spelled it Guanajuato and pronounced it Wan-ah- 
wah-to, with just a suspicion of a "g" before the 
"wan." As to the wherefore of the "hill of the 
frogs" does not appear in the legend, unless the 
hill w-as named in honor of one of their 
gods, one of which, in the shape of a 
huge frog cut in stone, was found here. 
To reach Guanajuato the traveler must 
go to Silao on the Mexican Central 
Railway, where there is a branch road 
leading 14 miles eastward to the city; statue in the aluckdiga, Guanajuato. 




187 

the old way was by street cars from Marfil up the barranca, nearly three miles, 
over the most interesting road, for its length, in Mexico. From Marfil to the 
Jardin de la Union arul the Presa de la OUa the old route was along the high^ 
way that leads up the gulch, as an American miner would call it, through, 
under and over the immense silver reduction works. Now the railway tracks 
have been completed to the city; street cars run from the station to the Jardin 
de la Union, where change to another, going on up the hill to the Presa. 
Perched on the steep hillsides that rise almost perpendicularly are the low flat 
houses in such out-of-reach places that it is a wonder how anything but a goat 
could ever get there; there are hundreds of these houses on both of the moun- 
tains, some of them so far up that they look like dry-goods boxes that might 
have been carried there by a cyclone and lodged on some crag or jutting rock, 
and the fact that they are all inhabited is proof that the Mexican is a good 
climber, whatever else he may not be. This highway along which the street 
cars run is crowded with people, burros and dogs, going up and coming down 
in all shapes and sizes, laden or unladen as the errand may or may not have 
been performed. 

The houses of that antique mold that suggests Egypt or the Holy Land are 
larger and better, till at the Jardin de la Union are some really fine buildings, 
a grand theatre, some fine churches and the Palacio Gobierno. The road does 
not end here, but continues on up the barranca to what I may call the top of 
the city, where are some of the most romantic little homes in a most picturesque 
residence district. A stream which comes down from the upper hills falls from 
one rock-bound basin to another till it reaches the reservoir of the city's water 
supply, forming a little lakelet that is crossed by a bridge to the houses on the 
either side. The walls of the reservoir and the bridge are covered with vines 
and flowers, and the houses are completely embowered with them. ( I remember 
one of these charming nests — I can't call it anything else — as dainty a piece 
as was ever a subject for a canvas. Overhanging trees and vines from the 
cliffs above make a bower of beauty that casts a grateful shade over the balconies 
and Moorish arches below, so that the sunlight comes to that house softened by 
swaying leaves and the air perfumed by ever-blooming flowers. 

The Pompeiian colors of the walls and arches added other hues and tints 
to the brighter ones of the flowers. Some pea-fowls sat sleepily on a wall, a 
cock with spreading plumes strutted proudly up and down, and in the lake 
the ducks floated lazily. From an upper casement window where 'the awning 
cloth was thrown outside the casement rail, as is the fashion, two dark-haired 
beauties robed in white, the long braids making inky stripes that must have 
reached almost to their feet, looked out. Below the reservoir a tunnel has 
been built down the barranca tO' take off the surplus water. The flood from 
the summer rains hastened the building of the tunnel, which was inaugurated 
and the water turned into it in 1907. 

It is an up-hill walk from the Jardin de la Union to the little alameda at the 
Presa de la 011a, where the band plays evenings, Sundays and feast days, yet 
worth it all ; but if you are not equal to it, ride up on the cars and walk down 
for the sights by the way and the grand view of the city and the surrounding 
country. 

On the route up from Marfil the street cars pass the old silver haciendas or 
reduction works, where the pure silver is taken from the ores that come from 
the mines roundabout that have been among the richest in the world, that from 
their- discovery by two muleteers in 1548 to 1898 have produced many millions of 
dollars. These silver haciendas will need no pointing out ; they are the old castle-like 
structures that line the road from Marfil to Guanajuato. The mines are farther 



188 




up in the hills, whence the ore is 
brought on the backs of mules 
and burros. The Mint is one of 
the finest and largest in the country 
and coins more money than any 
other. The process of melting the 
bars of silver^ stamping and mill- 
ing, is the same as in our mints; 
here was a white-haired old In- 
dian, whose locks seem silvered by 
the metal he has ladled from 
the furnace to the molds in 
thirty long years of continual 
service, and the two Indians 
seated on low stools literally 
surrounded by the silver coins, 
handling every piece, and by 
passing them through their fing- 
ers and over the palms of their 
hands could detect the slightest 
scratch or minute defect. A long 
practice made them perfect, and 
they never made a mistake in pick- 
ing up twenty coins at a grasp, no 
more, no less, and never failing to 
throw out an imperfect piece. 
Such a keen sense of touch is 
truly wonderful, and it is stated as 
a fact that their work was so per- 
fect that no further examination 
I was made, but the coins rejected 
by them were returned to the 
furnace to be melted over again. 
The mint is curiously built, but a 
strong, substantial building, that 
might have been a treasure house 
in Babylon of old, even to the 
hanging garden that adorns the 
roof with growing flowers. The 
center of the field of operations in 
doing Guanajuato should be at the 
Jardin de la Union. Near by are 
the churches, the theatres, the 
hotels, the Mint and State build- 
ings, and the Alhondiga or Cas- 
tilla de Granaditas, erected in 1785 
as a Chamber of Commerce, now 
used as a prison. It was cap- 
tured by Plidalgo in the early 
part of the war for Independence, 
and after he and the patriots Al- 
lende. Aldama and Jimenez were 
captured and executed at Chi- 
huahua, their heads were brought 



STREET IN GUANAJUATO. 



189 

here and hung on hooks on the walls of this building. Hidalgo, is still shown 
— I mean the hook is still shown. The execution of the patriot priest 
and the hanging of his head on these walls was resented by the Mexicans, 
and after the War for Independence was over the head was taken to 
the cathedral in the City of Mexico and in his honor there was erected the 
bronze statue that stands at the entrance. 

During the attack on the Alhondiga by the patriots Hidalgo called for a 
volunteer who would go under the walls and set fire to the massive doors — • 
a sturdy peon came forward, and, taking from the mountain side a wide, flat 
stone, threw it on his back as a shield against the missiles that might be thrown 




TEATRO JUAREZ, GUAN«,JUATO. 

from the walls, took a fire brand in his hand and with it burned the greai 
doors and admitted Hidalgo and his followers to the patio, where they encoun- 
tered the Royalists, drove them up the grand staircase and to the roof, where 
they surrendered. Blood that flowed in the conflict is shown in stains on the 
heavy balustrade. In one of the corridors is a statue of the heroic Indian 
with the stone on his shoulders and the uplifted firebrand. 

The Theatre Juarez, opposite the Jardin de la Union, is one of the finest 
play houses, not only in Mexico but on the continent, and for a city of its 
size is not surpassed in the world; it is a handsome building, of modern 



190 

architecture, built of the beautiful green stone found in these hills, the columns 
supporting the portico are constructed of discs of this stone laid one upon 
another. The magnificent auditorium is richly decorated; this and the 
scenery is from the brush of Mexico's greatest scenic artist, Herrera. The 
splendid foyer has sumptuous parlors with retiring-rooms for ladies, luxu- 
riously furnished and daintily decorated. 

There is wealth of paintmgs in the churches of Guanajuato, as there is a 
wealth of silver in its mines. The churches are fine, especially that of the 
Compafiia, commenced in 1747, and finished in 1765, the shelf cut out of 
the rock for its foundations alone costing nearly $100,000. The tower contains 
a chime of bells, and you may have heard before you came, or known, after 
you heard the bells of Mexico, that they are not usually hung in chimes. The 




ON THE ROAD FROM MARFIL TO GUANAJUATO. 

Jome somewhat resembles that of the Capitol at Washington, and is the one 
seen high above all the others in all views of Guanajuato. The old Church of 
San Sebastian is on the line of street cars leading to the Presa de la Olla; in 
the churchyard are scores of crumbling tombs with curious inscriptions. The 
Church of San Diego contains a picture of the Last Supper of San Francisco. 
The other churches are San Francisco, Loreto and Guadalupe. In the former 
is the much-venerated image of Our Lady of Guanajuato, presented by Philip 
IL of Spain. 

High up on a hill, in the western part of the city, is a panteon that may be 
called a replica of the catacombs of the Old World. In the vaults are artis- 
tically arranged the bodies and bones of lates lamented, whose departure from 
this vale of tears covers more than one century. The visit to the panteon is 



191 

not the most cheer£ul one, but the curious-minded will be entertained. The 
panteon proper is a cemetery in which there are few graves. The bodies 
are placed in tombs, arranged in tiers in the thick walls. A stipulated sum is 
paid for the first five years, with the privilege of renewal. If at the end of that 
time the mourners' grief h^s cooled, and further payment is not made, the 
body is taken from the hole in the wall; if nothing but bones remain they are 
thrown into the heap at the end of the arched corridor under the panteon. If 
the body is preserved in the dry air of the climate it is placed against the 




CATACOMBS, GUANAJUATO. 

wall to grin, and bear company to the other mummies that have stood there 
through the ages. About half way between the station at Marfil and the 
Jardm de la Union is a little park on the right as you go up; stop here and 
walk up the hill on the north side of the street to' the panteon or call most 

any Mexican that may be standing by, tell him you want burros, and you may 
ride up, if you can call this going on burro-back riding, or you may start from 
the new railway station nearer the Panteon. 

The City of Guanajuato is totally unlike any other in Mexico, and the visit 



192 

there is one that will be remembered; but the legends and fairy tales would 
form a volume if they were all written down, from the turning of the hose on 
the hogs to wash the silver from their bristles, gathered in their wallows in 
the pools, to the miracles priests performed. I remember mine, and all the 
sights seen from the gallop of the street-car mules up the hill from Marfil, till 
I bought the helados from an Indian boy as I took my seat in the train for 
Silao; I will explain that an helado, or, as the venders cry the name, ^'e-lozv," 
is a sort of ice cream, frozen in a tin tube about an inch in diameter and 
four inches long, and it was not the least of the pleasant surprises I found 




GUANAJUATO. 



at Guanajuato. The first settlement in Guanajuato was made in 1557, although 
the San Bernabe vein of La Luz mme was discovered in 1548. The later dates 
cannot be precisely stated, as the records were destroyed during the War for 
Independence in iSic — but it is reasonably certain that these figures are cor- 
rect and that the town charter was granted in 1679 and for the city in 1741. 

Guanajuato, the capital of the State of the same name, is 250 miles from the 
City of Mexico and fourteen miles by branch road from the main line of the 
Mexican Central Railway at Silao. 



193 

Guayttias.Is the chief seaport of the State of Sonora, and the southern 
Wah-e-mas' terminus of the Sonora Railway. The harbor is a very beautiful 
one, surrounded by high mountains and dotted here and there with islands 
that seem to be submerged peaks, with only the rugged points above the water. 
Hertnosillo. the capital of the State of Sonora, is on the Sonora River, 
Er-mo-seel'-yo in the midst of an agricultural district, surrounded by rugged 
mountains, where there are mines of gold and silver, where live the Yaqui 
Indians and other hostile bands that have always been a hindrance to the work- 
ing of the mines. Hermosillo is on the Sonora Railway, 263 miles from 
Benson, on the border, and ninety miles from the Gulf at Guaymas. 
Iguala. Is a most picturesque little city nestled in a pretty little bowl of 
Ig-wal-a a valley, among the mountains of the Pacific slope, on the Cuer- 
navaca division of the Mexican Central Railway. Noted in history through 
the Plan of Iguala, drawn in this city by Iturbide, called The Three Guarantees, 
represented in the national colors, green, white and red, so Iguala may in a 
way be called the birthplace of the Mexican flag. The ride over the Mexican 
Central from the City of Mexico to Iguala is one of the finest in the Republic, 
replete with magnificent scenery described elsewhere. The Cafion of the Black 
Hand, commonly known as the Iguala Canon, is only a few miles east of the 
town. Here are some of the most wonderful feats of modern engineering. 




Irapuato. Irapuato means strawberries ; not that this is the translation 
Ir-ra-pwat'-o of the word, but when the name of that station is called and the 
train stops there, all the passengers go out and buy strawberries. No matter 
if it is December or January, the cry of "fresas!" is heard on all sides — and 
great luscious berries, the finest and sweetest in the world, are offered at 
midsummer prices, and the bottom of the basket always exhibits that rising 
tendency so common to the strawberry box of the United States. Irapuato is 
also celebrated as the place to change cars for Guadalajara. The city is on 
the west side of the track ; only the church towers may be seen from the 
station above the green trees which surround them. Here is a pretty little 
city worthy of a stop-over check for one train at least, or if en route for 
Guadalajara there is often time for a street-car ride up town. The town is 
irregularly laid out, if indeed it was ever laid out, the narrow streets turning 
here and there, converging to numerous little plazas, and to the Alameda in 
the center of the city, where there is a combination of cleanliness and beauty 
of artistic gardening. There is also a queer combination in the two old- 
fashioned well-sweeps that might have come from "down south," and the 
beautiful music stand that exists only in Mexico. The wells and well-sweeps 
are for irrigation purposes for the exquisite fiower beds that adorn the park, 
the borders of which are in fantastic shapes, laid with pebbles and bowlders 
in different colors. The trees and shrubs are also similarly decorated and 
protected about the roots. 

The music stand, the necessary adjunct of every Mexican town, is at Ira- 
puato a thing of beauty and a joy to its people, when the band plays in the even- 



194 



ings and on the feast days and Sundays. It is in the center of the park, under 
the trees and surrounded with flowers — so there's fragrance with the melody. 

There are churches and churches, and pictures and pictures, in name from 
Guadalupe to San Francisco and each seeming different from the last one, so 
there must be a look mto each arched door and a stroll through nave and 
sacristy and climbs to belfry tower as everywhere else, and withal there is 
nothing disappointing in Irapuato, from the strawberries to the little fonda 
on the plaza. 

Irapuato is on the Mexican Central Railway, 212 miles from the national 
capital. 
Jalapa. ''Ave Maj'-ia purisima,que venga el sol,'' be your prayer when you 
Ha-lap'-pa come to Jalapa, as the Jalapefio invokes the Virgin to let the sun 
shine through the mists that almost constantly hang over the place — not that it 
rains, but a fine filmy mist prevails, in contrast to the bright sunshine of all 
other Mexico. But when the sun shines, than Jalapa there is not a brighter 
spot on earth, nor one more quaintly curious, nor yet any other more charm- 

i n g 1 y fascinating. 
Whether your com- 
ing be down from the 
_„„ ^ mountains or up 

J;^ — "C"^"^^^ |f tt4 8H ' i'l IHk «>■-•,. from the sea. you may 

%^^ ' j^\ IB: ,ffl > '• 9h ' mm ■■ look from your win- 

dow in the car with 
an anticipation not 
akin to the thoughts 
as you came to the 
others of these old- 
time towns. Either 
way the approach has 
been through tropic 
forests, and the stop 
at the station is in 
the midst of one. 
There is an incon- 
gruity in the modern 
AN IRAPUATO ALTAR. uewncss of the rail- 

road surroundings, the electric lights and the street cars. A glance beyond 
these is looking backward into arother centur}^ In the ride up town, the 
twentieth is between the rails of the track, and the sidewalk is back in the 
sixteenth, where the red-tiled roofs project over the walk-way, and casemated 
windows are strongly iron-barred to keep bandits and lovers out, and sweet- 
hearts and wives within. These iron bars may have been a necessity in the old 
bandit days, but not for that purpose now, although it may be they are retained 
'gainst the lovers, for the women are reputed for their beauty, till it has become 
a proverb among the Mexicans, "Las Jalapciias son halaguenas," "bewitching, 
alluring are the women of Jalapa." and whether this is the principal reason why 
Jalapa is considered as "a part of Paradise let down to earth" does not appear. 
However that may be. the American who has never been there, and knows 
only the product, tlie jalap of the old family doctor, is apt to consider it any- 
thing else but Paradise, and perhaps has wondered if any good could come 
from the town; but when he has seen "las Jalapefias," he may even forget the 
jalap's dose. 

In the days when the journey thither involved a tram-way ride of seventy 
miles and two days' time going and returning, the attractions were sufficient 




195 

to allure hundreds of tourists, and now that it is on a main line between the 
City of Mexico and Vera Cruz, and reached within a few hours from either city, 
their numbers greatly increase. 

There is a fashion to speak of Mexico as "old Mexico" — eminently proper, 
but unnecessary. There is nothing new there but the railways; but whatever 
ancientness that may impress elsewhere, there is something older about Jalapa; 




IRAPUATO. 

really it seems to have the age on all the other towns in the country. It was 
a place of importance when Cortez came. The houses on both sides of the 
narrow streets are of a cumbersome style of architecture, with here and there 
traces of the Moorish or Castilian. The long windows, heavily barred with 
iron, reach nearly to the ground, and if there is a second story, there is a 
bit of projection forming a casement or balcony, and over the railing the 



196 

brightly colored curtain in yellow and red keeps out the too intense rays of a 
tropic sun, and may also keep out the too intent gaze of some son upon the 
face and form of the seiiorita that may be behind it. And this makes a mem- 
ory of some old Castilian story of maiden and mandolin, of caballero and 
casement, of music and moonlight — for here are the very walls ('tis well they 
have not ears) and there the window and the balcony where some Romeo 
may have climbed, and some Juliet leaned her cheek upon her hand. Jalapa 
lies on the eastern hillsides of Meniltepec. and the streets running on steep 
inclines, or across the slopes, are cleaned by every passing shower, so that 




DRYING COFFEE IN THE STREETS OF COATEPEC. 

cleanliness, as well as beauty and antiquity, are attributes of this delightful city 
— an example of nature's emulated by the natives within their homes and 
gardens. 

The grandeur of the scenery round about is unsurpassed. Just back of 
the city is a great mountain with a great chalk-like rock, which from its shape — 
like a chest — is called the cofre, the Cofre de Perote, and farther away to the 
southwest is the snow-capped peak of Orizaba, another of Mexico's extinct vol- 
canoes, towering high above the surrounding mountains. To the east the 
hills get lower and lower, till far away the dim outline of blue defines the 
coming together of sky and sea. 



197 

Excursions to Teocelo, Xico and Coatepec may be made by rail, or by the 
old highway through tropical forests and coffee groves, on foot or burro-back. 
The quaintly pretty little towns and grand view of the Coatepec Valley is worth 
all the journey there. Another very interesting trip may be made to Jilotepec, 
about six miles away down in the valley, to be made on horseback or by burros. 
The burros are rather to be chosen, for the very novelty of it, and for safety as 
well — one does not have so far to fall. 

The Palacio Gobiernp is the building of the city, though by no means the 
most interesting. Its location is on the Plaza Mayor. There is a very pretty 
little theatre, most unique in its appointments, hardly to be expected in this 
so long out-of-the-way place. The Institute of the Ordnance Survey is located 
at Jalapa and has produced some fine maps and topographical drawings. 

The present Cathedral was formerly the Church of the Conception, founded 
in the sixteenth century. The other churches are San Francisco, founded in 
1555; San Juan de Dios, San Hipolito, 1641; San Jose, 1770, and the Calvario, 
1805, dating their foundations from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. 

While there is much of interest in their altars, shrines and paintings, the 
charms of Jalapa are without the walls of these or any other buildings, unless 
it be those where live the Jalapefias. 

Jalapa means a "place of water and sand." It was an Indian town when 
Cortez came, and being on the main road from the coast to the capital, was 
a place of importance. From 1720 to 1777 an annual fair was held for the 
sale of goods brought from Cadiz in Spain. Jalapa is the capital of the State 
of Vera Cruz. A street-car line leads up the steep street from the station to 
the Plaza Mayor, up a hill so steep that it requires six mules to draw the car. 
The city is located on the main line of the Interoceanic Railway, 257 miles from 
the City of Mexico. 
Lagos. A city three hundred years old in Mexico is not uncommon, and 
Lah'-gose some of them had gotten their growth when their charters were 
granted; that is about the age of the city that was formerly called Santa 
Maria de los Lagos, St. Mary of the Lakes. In modern times it has lost 
rnuch of its trade and some of its name. It was formerly the point of connec- 
tion with diligencias for Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi, but the completion 
of the railways to both of these cities took even this business away. However, 
it is not commercial importance that attracts to the average Mexican town, 
and Lagos has what all the others have, and a visit will not be disappointing. 
It is a pretty town, on the west side of the track, yet hardly to be seen, it is so 
overshadowed by trees. There are many interesting features in its churches, 
markets, streets and plazas, and there is a boast of good provender and good 
wine at the hotels. 

Lagos is in the State of Jalisco, on the Hne of the Mexican Central Railway^ 
296 miles from the city. Street cars run from the station to the center of 
the city. 

Leon. On a broad and fertile plain watered by the Rio Turbio is the 
Lay-own greatest manufacturing city of all Mexico, though the fact is not dis- 
coverable from the cars. There are no many-storied buildings with tall chim- 
iieys indicating such industries, but they are here at Leon. Every citizen 
lives in his own house and his home is his workshop. There is scarcely an 
article of use or ornament but what is made at Leon. The beautiful saddles, 
bridles and horse accoutrements so much affected by the Mexican; shoes and 
all other leathern goods, zerapes and rebosos answering the purpose of coats 
and shawls for men and women, cotton and woolen goods, iron ware and cut- 
lery, are all manufactured at Leon, and every one of the little low, square- 
built houses is a busy shop of some kind or other. 



198 



ma^»^" ' » g^"jga&r-" 








199 

» 
There is no indication, from the station, of a city of such size and impor- 
tance, nor from the street cars as they wind through the cactus-hedged lanes 
for a mile or more, and come to the long, narrow streets, crossing others at 
right angles that seem of the same interminable length with their never-ending 
rows of houses as far as the eye can reach. This car line reaches to the main 
plaza, a very pretty one, with the market at one corner, and the Casa Munici- 
pal on one side, and on the other three, the portales, with clean, well-kept 
shops and stores, offering the products of the town. The plaza is shaded with 
trees, and there are flowers and fountains and the inevitable music stand. 
Horse cars lead out to an old causeway, now resorted to as a paseo for prome- 
nades and drives to the pretty gardens in the suburbs. A little further out, on 
the road to the north, are some hot springs and baths. 

The establishment of the church in Leon received a set-back at the start, in 
the murder of the cura, Espinoso, by the Chichimec Indians in 1586, but the 








LAGOS 

church survived, and those buildings now in existence are very interesting, 
both for their great age and peculiar decoration. The one with the great dome 
and two high towers was formerly the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de la Luz, 
commenced in 1746 (now, since 1886, the Cathedral), and is over 200 feet long, 
but only forty-five wide. Here is an original painting of Our Lady of Light, 
the Patroness of Leon, presented, as attested by the Jesuit signatures on the 
back, by Jose Maria Genovesi, in 1740. In the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de 
los Angeles are some very curious carvings by a native artist, one Mufioz of 
most happy memory. The other churches are La Soledad, San Felipe and 
San Juan, the former being the oldest. 

Some idea of the size of Leon may be formed from the knowledge that 
there are 507 streets, 7,820 houses, 236 manzanas, or squares, and ten plazas. 
There was a Spanish town on this site in the year 1552, referred to in the royal 



200 



archives as the town of Leon, from which time the city dates its age, though 
the formal order for its foundation was not issued by Viceroy Almanza until 
1575, but this order not royally confirmed until 1712. It was not made a city 
until after the war of 1810, when it was so declared by the State of Guanajuato, 
in which State it is. 

Leon is on the Mexican Central Railway, 259 miles from the City of Mexico. 
Lerdo. Near the Nazas River, and in the midst of a very fertile cotton 
Laer'-do region, this is one of the newest towns in Mexico, and its boast is 

in an equable climate, cotton mills and 
oil manufactories rather than antiqui- 
ties. There is a pretty garden in the 
principal plaza with seats under the 
trees. There are four churches, a mar- 
ket and the Plaza de Toros to be vis- 
ited. The soil of the Lerdo plain is 
very fertile, and the cli- 
mate is particularly adapt- 
ed to the culture of cotton; 
it is claimed that two and 
three crops may be made 
without replanting, and as 
to corn and wheat, they just 
grow all the time. It is 
only three miles south from 
Lerdo to Torreon, the 
junction point of the Inter- 
national and the Mexican 
Central Railroads. The city 
is on the west side of the 
road and about three miles 
distant from Gomez-Palacio, 
reached by electric cars that 
run across the plain, through an avenue shaded by green trees. Lerdo is on 
the Mexican Central Railway, 684 miles from the capital. 
Manzatiillo. Is an important seaport on the Pacific coast in the State of 
Man-zan-eel'-yo Colima, where there is an excellent harbor, with very beautiful 
and picturesque surroundings. A railway of sixty miles connects the port with 
Colima. the capital of the State. 

Maravatio. Looking from the west windows of an approaching train, 
Marry-va-tee'-o the picture is a pretty one of green trees, with red-tiled 
roofs peeping just above them, and over all a Moorish tower, with its bells, 
is lifted up against the blue sky. An arched bridge of stone is on the other 
side, where it spans a branch of the river Lerma; a beautiful stream passes 
under the track just south of the station. The town lies quite close to the 
railroad, and there is often time for more than a passing view in a stroll through 
the crooked streets to the principal plaza where there are fountains and 
flowers. In the suburbs of San Nicolas and San Miguel are the other plazas 
reached by other still more crooked streets, which also lead to a small lake 
just outside of the town. San Juan Bautista is the parish church, a large, 
quaint old building in the form of a cross: the carved altars are worth seeing, 
as are also the other churches. Cohimna and Nuestro Sefior de los Herreros, 
Our Lord of the Blacksmiths. Maravatio is one of the oldest of Mexico's 
old towns, and has a reputation all over the country for the excellence of 
the shoes manufactured there. The original town was called Maravatio el 




AN AZTEC CARTOON OF PREST. ROOSEVELT AT MORELIA. 



201 



Alto, located 15 miles southwest, and was founded in 1535 ; the present town 
was founded in 1541. One of the old houses near the parish church bears date 
of 1573. Maravatio is on the Mexican National Railroad, 138 miles from the 
city. Junction of the Michoacan & Pacific Railway. 

Matamoros. Was formerly the capital of the State of Tamaulipas be- 
Mat-ah-mo'-ros fore it was removed to Victoria. The town is on the 
Rio Grande opposite Brownsville, Texas, and about thirty miles from the 
Gulf. The city was occupied by the Americans under Gen. Taylor May i8th, 
1846 — but even before that was an important military base during the war 
between Mexico and Texas. There is a division of the Mexican National 
Railway extending north to Monterey. Eastward there is rail communication 
to San Antonio, Houston and Galveston, Texas. 

Mazatlau. One of the most important ports on the Pacific coast, with 
Maz-at-lan' only a fair harbor of eighteen to twenty feet of water, but 

picturesque to a degree, situated at the mouth of the 
Gulf of California, and surrounded by high hills that are 
reflected in the marvelously clear water of the beautiful 
bay — with what the natives believe to be the highest light- 
house in the world; but there are others that are higher; 
inland about thirty leagues are the famous mines. Real 
del Rosario, discovered in 1655 by the losing of a rosary 
by an Indian who remained by the scene of his loss 
over night, and who found in the morning that his camp 
fire had melted the silver from the ground. Mazatlan, 
although one of the newest of Mexican towns, has figured 
extensively in the country's history. The city was found- 
ed in 1822, rebelled against Santa Ana in 1844, and 
again in '46; was captured by the Americans in '47; 
captured by insurgents in 1859; was bombarded by 
the French in 1864; was captured by Maximilian's forces 
in '66, and by the Mexicans in '68, after which there was 
more or less trouble until 1877, since when peace 
has reigned. The town is delightfully clean, and 
quaintly picturesque. 

Merida. The ancient Maya town, Ti-hoo, was 

Mer'-e-dah on the site of the present City of 
Merida, which was founded by Don Francisco 
de Montijo in 1542. Merida is the capital of the 
State of Yucatan and its commercial metropolis, 
and a city of the tropics in every way worthy 
of a visit and one of the many towns in Mexico 
noted for the beauty of its women. In the midst 
of a district noted far and wide for its ruins, 
prominent among which are Uxmal and Chichen- 
Itza. It is perhaps the most interesting city of 
the peninsula. In the city the remains of the old walls, the ancient churches, 
convents, the plazas and portales are sufficient to entertain for a protracted visit. 
Merida is reached by rail from Progreso on the Gulf in twenty-two miles. 
There is rail connection also with Valladolid in the interior and Campeche 
on the Gulf. 

Mitla. The archives of the Acropolis of Athens are written, and the tale 

Meet'-la of Thebes has been told in ancient history; but that history runs 
not far enough back in the ages to tell of the builders of the temples of 
Mitla, Palenque and Uxmal, whence they came, or where departed. The 




THE TWO REPUBLICS. 



202 

parchments that bore the builders' tracings have mouldered to ashes in the 
century of centuries, and the hieroglyphics worn to polished stone in the 
drifting sands of a passed eternity, till the tale must forever remain untold. 
Yet stand, as mute monuments, the chiseled columns, that call back the cul- 
tured civilization of the mighty men of Mitla, and Palenque's people, in 
whose temples we walk, wondering at their magnitude and magnificence; cal- 
culating, hopelessly, upon the task that modern men would tire under, and 
wondering and wondering how these walls were laid, how their mosaics where 
graven, how these monoliths were raised, and where their quarries were; 
how they were brought hence, how these massive columns were raised, and 
how the corner stone was put in its place. Afterwards we turn away in dis- 
appointing ignorance of it all, and hopelessly, for there is no history, nor 
yet a legend, to fathom the mystery of it. 

You may find but little of the history or legend of Mitla from its people 
of to-day who do not even speak the language of their neighbors, the Mexi- 




RUINS OF UXMAL. 



cans — Spanish is as Greek to them — and if they know anything handed down 
from their fathers they have not told the secret. They call the name of the 
place, not Mitla, but Lyo-baa, which in Tzapoteco tongue means the "door 
of the grave" — well named, for here indeed is the grave of all tradition. 

The journey to Alitla is an easy one. It is by the Mexican Southern from 
Puebla to Oaxaca; thence there is a railway completed in 1906 to Tule; through 
a valley almost treeless, save where the verdure is along the banks of a little 
rio, or clustered here and there about an hacienda or straggling village, or on 
the sides of the mountains which hedge this valley in, and help to make the 
journey a pleasant one, with pretty pictures of scenic beauty. 

There is dust on the road to Mitla but no more than on the average country 
road, nor as much as in the Yosemite Valley or the Yellowstone Park, and there 
is more in Mitla to interest, though of a different character than either of these. 

Carriages may be obtained at Oaxaca. to start from there or sent out early 
in the morning to wait at the end of track for arrival of the train which should 
be before noon to take advantage of the afternoon breezes that almost always 
blow from the south and across the road; let this be the hour of starting in the 
winter months as it will bring vou to Mitla before dark. In the summer start 



CO 



203 



■^ P ft R M 



i S ^2 C «3 M 3 cS 



rci .2 



^ pj O rO - 
O o 03 --5 0) 

Q; Crt U r; "^ S 




o 
O 



204 

very early in the morning to avoid the almost every afternoon rain. Returning 
the same rules may be followed. 

Lunches may be taken from Oaxaca, but this is not necessary; the Hotel 
Cerqueda at Tlacolula, very near the end of the journey, is surprisingly good, 
where good coffee, fine native chocolate, excellent bread, and fruits may be 
obtained, and at the hacienda of the muy amahle, Seiior Don Felix Quero, at 
Mitla, there are good beds, somewhat hard, but clean, and an excellent dinner 
is served, by a genial host, who will welcome in cordiality and speed the parting 
guest with good wishes, till you will, with the memories of the wonders, the 
pleasant journey and the good living, bless the day you came to Mitla. 

There is no reason why you should not occupy your carriages from Oaxaca — 
and the only reason for the suggestion to take the railway to Tule is to avoid 
the jostle of the ride over the stony streets and rough road out to the Big Tree. 




BIG TREE OF TULE. 

Absolute arrangement must be made for carriages to be at the end of track 
by the time tram-cars arrive— this may be best arranged through the superin- 
tendent of the railway, and tell him that you must see the Big Tree of Tule, within 
a hundred yards of the track. You have told 3-our driver that if he drives there 
is something in it for his own account, and he will drive. The populace will 
turn out togreet you, in a kindly way, and, from the purest curiosity, follow 
you about. The big tree of Tule is in the church yard of Santa Maria del Tule. 
A great grandfather of trees, that must have been still a great tree long before 
the Spaniards came, or even while the builders were at the temples of Mitla. 
It is 154 feet and 2 inches around the trunk, six feet from the ground, and as a 
native says, "it takes two looks to see the top." To give a better idea of its 
immense size: if twenty-eight people with outstretched arms, touching each 
other's fingertips, stood around the trunk, they could barely complete the circuit. 



205 



On the east side of this 
giant of the forest is a 
wooden tablet, with an in- 
scription signed by Hum- 
boldt, the great German 
traveler, and probably 
placed there by him, or by 
his order. It has been there 
so long that the bark has 
grown over it, almost com- 
pletely embodying it in the 
tree, and partially obscur- 
ing the inscription, so that 
the beginning and ending 
of the lines cannot be read. 
In the native tongue the 
tree is an ahuehuetl, a 
species of cypress. Back 
on the old road again, 
and the little mules go in a 
gallop across the valley, 
then over the barren foot- 
hill of the mountain, with 
still a broad even road, 
though at a slower gait till 
the turn at the top, then 
you may go as fast as you 
please. There is a pretty 
view from this hill, back to 
one valley of green fields, 
and forward to another. 
Looking toward the valley 
to the south there is seen 
what seems to be a vast 
pyramid, in the midst of it, 
perfect in shape, but on 
closer view it is found to be 
covered with small trees, but 
it may be a pyramid for all 
that. We are in a land of 
mysterious wonders, and 
there may be yet undiscov- 
ered relics of the forgotten 
ages. The road passes 
through the quaint old 
town of Tlacochahuaya and 
long before you come to the 
village you will see the 
domed towers of a group of 
old churches, that will in- 
terest you. Pronounced by 
the late Archbishop Katzer 
of Milwaukee to be most 
picturesque. You can take 




HUMBOLDT PANEL, BIG TREE OF TULE. 



206 

your time for luncheon and cofifee at the Hotel Cerqueda at Tlacolula, and, 
while it is being prepared, you may walk across the market place and come 
to the Plaza of the Casa Municipal, and a very pretty one, indeed; then come 
back through the church yard, and through the quaint old church of the parish. 
If you are not indeed hard to please, you will not regret the luncheon at 
Tlacolula — still I have not advised to start on the journey without a basket. 

The mules have rested, the drivers been refreshed, and it is a whip and 
a hurrah through the streets of the east side of the town, with a hundred 
dogs coming out to bark at your flying wheels; down through the cactus- 
hedged lanes, and on into the fields again, with the greater part of the jour- 
ney behind you, and a down-grade road to Mitla. On the right is the val- 




TOMB ON MOUNT GUIRI, NEAR MITLA. 

ley; on the left the mountains have come closer, till there are huge boulders, 
of thousands of tons, that may have rolled down from them and lodged on 
the smaller hills, close to the roadside; not one or a dozen, but hundreds of 
them, probably shaken from their places by some violent quaking of the 
earth. There are a few miles of this, then, across a wide, rocky bed of a 
large river, in the rainy season, though only a rivulet now, and up the hill 
on the other side, and you are at Mitla — at the hospitable door of Don Felix 
Quero. 

An exchange of courtesies with Don Felix, rooms arranged for, the order 
for dinner given, and you are ready for the ruins. 

If the journey has been well done, without delay, you should reach the 
ruins within four hours now and when the road is completed to Tlacolula the 
trip from Oaxaca to Mitla may be made in three hours, \yhich with good teams 



207 



has been done many times in winter, but in summer it takes longer on account 
of rains. 

It is only five minutes walk from the hacienda to the Ruins, through a 
straggling village of thatched huts, through narrow streets hedged with giant 
cacti. Pass out the door of the hacienda, turn to the left at the corner, turn 
again to the left around the white walls, on northward through the lane, 
across the dry bed of the rio and on the right of the road just at the top 
of the opposite bank are the first remains of the ruined city. After passing 
these bear to the right towards the church on the hill and in a moment you 
stand within the graven walls of a temple that may be older than Solomon's. 

I have called them temples, and temples they may have been, raised to 
the honor of the gods their builders worshiped, though there is little simi- 
larity to the teocalis found in the city of Tenochtitlan and the other cities 
of Anahuac on the plains to the north. These low walls differ radically in 
their construction and decoration from the high pyramidal temples of the 
Toltecs, though the absence of arches in the temples of Mitla would indicate 
that the builders were of the same school, as the Toltecs had no arches in 
their architecture and for the 
most part avoided curves and 
circular decoration. If not a 
temple, then it may have been 
a fortress, a most impregnable 
one, and unless the instru- 
ments of war were more for- 
midable than those of later 
generations, or even those of 
the present day, the thick 
walls would have resisted the 
most persistent assaults. The 
fortress idea further obtains 
from the fact that there are 
no windows or other openings 
in the walls, and the only en- 
trances open into the inner 
square or plaza; for these 
reasons the fortress idea is in 
favor, but the people of the mitla maidens. 

earlier ages did not need such formidable works of defense. The 
palace of a king or mighty chieftain may have been within these walls 
— the Hall of the Monoliths, a banquet hall, the Corridor of Mosaics, a 
royal bed chamber, and the central court might have been the throne room 
and audience hall, but I adhere to a first impression and say, here was once 
a great temple. This may have been one temple, or two of four courts 
each. There are in each of the north and south groups four walled cou'-ts 
facing about an open patio, lying exactly at the four points of the com- 
pass, with their walls on lines true to the needle. Of the southern group, 
only three of the courts have the walls standing. The east wall is in the 
best condition, next the north, while the south is almost crumbled away, and 
the west is but a heap of stones. 

The heavy cap piece of the entrance to the north court is supported in 
the center by a huge column of hewn stone. Under it leads a passage un- 
derground, that may have extended to the other courts, as there is a sub- 
terranean gallery running the entire length of the court, east and west, with 
a short extension due north, under the east court of this group is another 




208 

cruciform chamber. . In the north g-"P . *<=^ -J*, »^f JL '" mtgnificSt 
state of preservation, and S'^f .rTf^r^otttn^^ce whose civilization is 
handiwork of the men of a buried and '°'^8°"*=". "^^'/'o^these stones; in 
attested in the '"/"'=^tf,^?"'"f„i''""^nd setting Aem °n their places as 
the lifting them fro"\ *5": ,,''X earth"s t^emblfngs have not shaken, nor 
with a mason's tact, that all the j^^™ ^ '■^'=;f',f^'"„frth court is built on the 
the warring dements effaced the^rg^^^^^^^^^^ ^ i^^^^ ^^ The en- 

trance* o? aU the cou°S open into the open patio in the center with no open- 
trance*. oi ail iiic ^ ^^^ windows anywhere 

'"^Inthe"north court a^d extending its entire length ^.^ %gXm,is°neiriy 
called the Hall of the Monoliths. Here are six massive columns, nearly 




EAST SIDE, NORTH COURT, MITLA. 

<;even feet in circumference and twelve feet high, ranging down the center 
oMhe hal An uTer-the-walls passage leads to a second lai-ger room, wliose 
walls also face the compass ponies. This room is surrounded by foui" smaller 

E £rof tt'S:;tf'^f^TVe^af afe-ijJ^et ^ |c|T tit 
•'H& enf r'Jijroft'fs IL'^hlTt^ I^ch^ if ^rt^V^irc ^'e^, ^s 



SO0 




210 

columns which show that there was here also a hall with the monolith columns^ 
the massive lintel that was over the door has been thrown down. 

Down the hill towards the village, in the midst of some huts of cane, is 
a modern discovery, which the Indian guide calls "the sepulcher," long used 
as a corn bin. It is about eight feet long and six feet wide, and below the 
level of the ground. The architecture and cutting of the stone is exactly the 
same as in the larger ruins on the hill. 

The old church on the hill has its walls and foundations laid in the walls 
and foundations of another group of the pre-historic temples — probably the 
oldest foundation and walls of any Christian Church in the world. The same 
stone carvings and inlaid work of the other ruins are found in both the ex- 
terior and interior of the church, and much of the material of the temple 
walls has been taken to build the church. Back of the church in one great 
chamber now used as a stable are several patches of the hard red paint show- 
ing some of the hieroglyphics that once adorned the walls. The view from 
the tower of the church will give a better idea of the extent of the ruined 
city. Looking to the south are the walls that extend to the banks of the rio, 
to the westward is a pyramid of earth and stones crowned by an ancient but 
3'et a more modern shrine ; and across the rio in the midst of the village, 
some other pyramids of earth and stone but loosely put together, yet with- 
standing the ravages of the elements. Leaving the church, walk down the 
hill near to temples on their right, and after crossing the rio come to the 
sepulcher and pyramids, and passing through the village to the main road^ and 
turning to the right come to the hacienda again. 

Of these ruins no more may be written, truthfully, than I have here. 
Descriptions may be elaborated, and yet not do them justice. History is pain- 
fully silent as to their origin. They were as they are to-day when the Spaniards 
came. Fray Martin de Valencia visited them in 1533 ; in the old Spanish 
chronicles notices are made in 1565 and 1574, and Cogolludo, who saw them 
in the middle of the seventeenth century, speaks of them with admiration, as 
works of "accomplished artists," of whom history has preserved no tradition. 
His visit to these ruins was written of in 1688. 

We are left to wonder what race of men carved these walls and laid their 
intricate fittings. Where did they quarry these huge stones, and how were 
they hewn to their perfect shape? How did they transport them hence, and 
how lift them to their places, since men enough could not get around one to 
lift it? What edged tools could cut their flinty substance, since only chisels 
and axes of soft, untempered copper have been found? All is deeply, darkly 
secret against all research. We come to them, and go away, knowing as little 
as before we came, and pass on with a silent salute to the artisans of so 
enlightened a race, whose work has made the arrogance of the twentieth 
century silent in its wonder and admiration. 

These ruins have withstood the ravages of time, perhaps a thousand cen- 
turies, but here cometh, in this day and generation, a destroyer who can 
destroy in a year what may not be built in a hundred ; may do what time and 
the elements have not done in a thousand. The relic hunter comes to take 
away what the sands have not covered up. Let him who reads these lines 
beware. Let him look upon these walls, but not lay his hand upon them to 
take their smallest pebble. And if any man shall show you a stone, and say 
that it came from the walls of the Ruins of IMitla, say to him that he is a 
vandal ; for that he is, indeed and in truth. 

Thus were these ruins when I came to them in 1894; thus they were when 
the ancient chronicler saw them, when Humboldt and Du Paix took their long 



211 

journeys thence — no change had taken place; but recent excavations have 
revealed new mysteries in hidden walls and pavements, tombs and subterranean 
chambers. 

In 1900 the debris was removed from the patio of the north court and a 
hard cement pavement with cut-stone curbing and borders uncovered. In 1901 
a similar work in the south court showed another pavement with a sealed 
entrance, which on being opened disclosed a beautiful subterranean chamber, 
cruciform, about thirty by forty feet under the east edifice of that court, and 
with the same mural decorations as are in the chambers above. 

The excavations at Mitla and in the surrounding valley have been made 
under the supervision of Sefior Don Leopoldo Batres, who, as the representative 
of 4;he Supreme Government of Mexico, has charge of all such work within the 
Republic. Professor Saville, representing the New York Museum of Natural 
History, has ably assisted Sefior Batres. Great honor is due these eminent 
archaeologists for their work in Mitla of Mysteries. 

At this writing the good work of excavation, restoration and preservation 
is progressing so that no permanent book may give the details up to date. 

All over this valley of mysteries new discoveries are being made, and only 
the daily paper, or the magazine, may give the latest details of what has been 
found at Mitla. 

Moiiclova has a history, and seems to be content with it. When Texas 

Mon-clo'-va and Coahuila were one State, Monclova was the capital; now 
it is the capital of neither, Texas having one of her own, and that of Coahuila 
having been removed to Saltillo. iMonclova is in the center of a rich mining 
district; the most important are the mines Cuatro Cienegas and Sierra Mojada! 
Monclova is a very old town, and as such is a very interesting one. It was 
named for the Viceroy Melchor Portocarrero Lazo de la Vega, Conde de la 
Monclova, but for obvious reasons has not retained the entire name, which 
is to be applauded if for no other reason than for the benefit of the trainman ' 
who calls the stations along the line, since he has such inferior success with 
the shorter ones. Monclova is on the Mexican International Railroad, 942 
miles from the City of Mexico. It is in the State of Coahuila. 

Monterey. The Spaniards had penetrated far into tHe interior and to 
^Mon-te-ray' the northward, before the middle of the sixteenth century, 
and in 1560 had reached near the now American border. In that year they 
founded the town of Santa Lucia, that was afterwards called Monterey in 
honor of the then viceroy, Don Caspar de Zuhiga, Conde de Monterey, the 
permanent settlement being made in September of 1596 by Fray Diego de 
Leon. If he had sought the country over he could not have found a more 
lovely site for 2. city than in this valley of level lands. It is completely sur- 
rounded by high hills, curiously shaped, and the prettiest in Mexico. So 
curiously shaped are their dark blue outlines, clear cut against the sky, that 
the one, Cerro de la Silla, 4,149 feet above the plain, is a perfect saddle of 
the military type known as the McClellan, and, at the peak, is shaped exactly 
like the saddles seen m Mexico, requiring no stretch of the imagination, as in 
the case of the old Man of the Mountain and Anthony's Nose, the saddle 
mountain being recognized at a glance. The Cerro de las Mitras, 3,618 feet 
nigh,^ IS the mountain of the mitres. It does not so assert itself, but the mitres 
are just as compelling as the saddle, and that piece of the bishop's vestments 
is as discernible to the average vivid vision. They are the bluest of blue 
mountains standing out against the very bluest sky, and the marvelously clear 
atmosphere is responsible for it all. 

These mountains surround a lovely valley, watered by clear running streams 



312 

and carpeted by the green of fertile fields that are brightened further by 
flowering gardens, with great trees to shade the lanes and streets. In the 
midst of this is Monterey, as quaintly novel as the valley is very beautiful. 

Here, through the city, there runs a living stream of cold, clear water 
that has its source in the great spring, the Ojo de Agua. Along its banks the 
people come to bathe under the shade of the overhanging foliage. On a 
bridge. La Purisima, where one of the principal streets crosses this stream, 
the Mexicans made a valiant stand against the advancing Americans in '46, 
and while, as the legend says, the Virgin of Guadalupe hovered over the 
banners of Mexico, they held the pass as the Spartans at Thermopylae. 

In the western part of the city are the casas de recreo, a semi-suburban 
district where the houses are in beautiful gardens of fruits and flowers, with 
streams of running water and fountains under beautiful trees. These are 
reached by street cars, as are all of the points of interest in and around Mon- 
terey. Special cars may be hired at reasonable rates, and they are much 
to be preferred to the carriages that rattle in an uncertain way over the stony 
streets; especially are the street cars to be preferred for the rides to the 
Bishop's Palace and to Topo Chico. The Bishop's Palace is a very picturesque 
old ruin on a high hill northwest of the city, seen from almost every part 
of it and from the cars. The Palace was commenced in 1782 and completed 
in 1790, by Bishop Verger, for a summer residence. It is now fallen into 
disuse, and occupied solely by two sentries, whose lonely watches are changed 
once a month. These two are but a memory of the gallant army that de- 
fended the hill against the assaulting Americans, under General Worth, on 
the 21 st of September, 1849, when the capture of the hill meant the surrender 
of the city. It is a pleasant ride across the plain to the Hot Springs of Topo 
Chico. The wonderful hot waters issue from the side of a hill about three 
miles to the north. The ride through the fields is a pleasant one, and at 
the end of it there are pavilions, baths and a good hotel. The legend of 
Montezuma's daughter, her journey to Topo Chico and miraculous cure by 
the all-healing waters, lives in the centuries after her — how she came from 
the far-away Hill of the Grasshopper, a weak and puny maiden, but when 
she came again to Chapultepec it was with renewed life and vigor, to the 
rejoicing of all. The court of the plumed and feathered king became, at 
once, agents for the Topo Chico springs. The waters are only to be bathed 
in to insure their own recommendation, and they so resemble the great Hot 
Springs of Arkansas that they are only to be as well known to make them 
equally popular. 

The other excursions by street car and carriage from Monterey are to 
Santa Catarina and the chapels of Guadalupe and Lourdes, and eight miles 
further to El Potrero, the road leading through a beautiful canon to a valley 
of meadows surrounded by mountains. About nineteen miles south of the 
city, reached by rail, are two wonderful caves near the little village of Pes- 
queria. A visit to the near-by mines by means of the little narrow gauge 
railroads will prove interesting. 

The only really old church of Monterey is that of San Francisco, dating 
from 1560. The present church was built in 1730. though there are some 
of the old ruins adjoining it, near the Plaza Mayor, where there is a pic- 
turesque old convent with a garden. The Cathedral is a massive structure 
after the style of the average church of Mexico; it was commenced in 1792, 
finished in 1833, and consecrated on the 4th of July of that year. It was 
used as a powder magazine during the American war, and its walls and 
towers give evidence in their scars of the vicissitudes of war. 

The main plaza is a very pretty one indeed; it is, in fact, two plazas, with 



213 

the Casa Municipal between them. At the east end is the Cathedral, and 
just south of it is the Episcopal Palace. Near by is the State House and 




CORNER OF NORTH COURT. 



Theatre and the Casino, one of the finest club houses in the country. The 
Alameda and Campo Santo are in the northwest of the city. 



S14 




216 

Monterey is a much Americanized city, with its great smehers, factories 
and breweries, but it is Mexican withal, and is a most dehghtful iirst-vieAy 
town across the border. Monterey is at the crossing of the Mexican National 
and the Monterey division of the Mexican Central and the terminus of a branch 
of the Mexican International that connects with the main line at Reata ; Mon- 
terey is the capital of the State of Nuevo Leon, and is distant from the City 



HI 




1 ~-^ 






^ 



SOUTH COURT— MITLA ENTRANCE TO SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER. 

of Mexico 636 miles. Street cars run from railway stations to the Plaza 

Mayor. 

Morelia. Than Morelia there is no more lovely city in all Mexico, 
Mo-ray'-lia and its people are content with it, to remain within its walls, 

going not abroad except where business calls, and that only when it is most 

urgent; when you have seen them in their homes there will be no wonder 



S16 




217 

at: their contentment. In the olden days when the Viceroys of Spain or their 
emissaries were going about in Mexico founding cities, they, with one ac- 
cord, seemed to have had an eye for the beautiful in the selection of a site, 
and particularly did Mendoza have when in 1541 he founded the city of Val- 
ladolid, (now called Morelia in honor of the patriot Morelos), when, as the 
ancient chronicler says, the Viceroy found a site having the seven qualities 
of Plato, and founded a small but very noble city, now grown to a large 
and nobler city, whose towers are seen from afar with their belfries and 
crosses peeping over the intervening hills. There is a "saddle" mountain at 
Morelia and others as curiously shaped on all sides, sloping down to smaller 
undulating hills and valleys in the midst of which the city is. Coming from 
the east the track runs along the river bank, where a large proportion of 
the populace do congregate for the launder of their clothes and themselves. 
It is a pretty river with great overhanging trees on either shore, making 
dark shadows over the waters, and a cooling shade protecting from rays of 
a southern sun. The river is on the north of the track, and the scene from 
the windows on that side is novel and interesting for a mile or more before 
the station is reached. 




THE BISHOP'S PALACE. 



Street cars run from the station to the pretty plaza, to the very excellent 
hotels of Morelia and beyond to the suburbs, where there are the most charm- 
ing and cosiest flower-embowered homes in the world. It is a pleasant street 
car ride, but it is best to leave the car just where it starts down the hill 
by the old aqueduct and passes under its arches— then walk through the Cal- 
zada de Guadalupe, a wide stone-paved paseo that leads to the Parque de 
San Pedro. On each side is a massive stone balustrade, and at intervals 
convenient resting places on the benches, also of stone. There are two rows 
of tall trees with intertwining branches above, lending a constant shade over 
the causeway and over the houses on both sides. The Calzada was com- 
menced in 1732 and the work designed by Bishop Calatayud was intended 
to afford an easy and pleasant walk to the Santuario de Guadalupe. If you 
have never seen the Mexican home that you may have read of, and which 
you may have thought was described extravagantly, you may see it here. 
If haply some arched doorway is swung ajar you may have a glimpse of 
fairy-land that you would never dream could exist behind such a cold gray 



218 

wall. The patio is filled with flowers; some vines have climbed to the upper 
galleries and almost hidden them with a bank of blossoms, blending in a 
perfect harmony of color from a deep carnation to a delicate pink, relieved 
by tints of blue and purple, with here and there some white and gold flowers. 
From a bed of flowers in the center, sparkling waters, as if from their petals 
instead of from hidden jets, fly in crystal globules to the overhanging leaves 
of a feathery palm. You may not see the birds, there are so many flowers to 
hide them, but the twittering, the whistling and singing in a hundred notes 
tell that they are there. Such are the homes of the Calzada de Guadalupe 
that leads from the city to the Parque de San Pedro, a park of great beauty, 
shadowed by a forest of great trees, a favorite resort of the people. Through 
the park runs the old aqueduct built by the good Fray Antonio de San 




AQUEDUCT AT MORELIA, VIEWS FROM BASE AND TOP. 

Miguel Iglesias, in the year of the famine, 1785, as a means to provide food 
for the people. Under one of the high arches is a tablet commemorating the 
bishop's charity. 

The Cathedral, one of the finest in all Mexico, and the Palacio de Gobierno 
stand facing each other in the city's center, fronting the plazas. The main 
plaza is called the Plaza of the Martyrs, commemorative of the execution 
here of a company of patriots in 1830. and here also Matamoros was exe- 
cuted ten years later. The plaza east of the Cathedral is that of La Paz 
where the market is, and where may be bought the dulces for which the 
town is noted, and also the curious pottery of Uruapam; the other plaza is 
that ot San Francisco, in front of the church of the same name. In the Plaza 
de Ids Martires the band plays, under a beautiful pagoda in the midst of a 



219 

garden of trees and flowers; here the people most do congregate, and here 
may Morelia's folks be seen at their best, (in the evenings when there's music, 
as there is two or three times a week), men of high and low degree, women 
who wear the mantilla and her more lowly sister of the tapalo and of the 
reboso, both showing the beauty of the city's people. 

The Hotel Oseguera is a part of the building that was erected for the 
bishop's palace, but as its cost created talk among the people, it was aban- 
doned to more profane uses and became a hotel, and one of the best and 
most unique in the land. The Hotel Michoacan has also a convent legend. 
The Ocampo Theatre is the chief place of amusement, excepting always the 
Plaza de Toros, built after the fashion of the bull-rings of old Spain, entirely 
of stone, very substantial and of immense seating capacity. 

The house in which Morelos was born September 30th, 1765, is at the 
second corner south from the Cathedral; it has a tablet recording the event. 
In the first block east of the Cathedral and half way of the block is the 
house in which Iturbide was born, September 27, 1783. 

Of the churches, of course the Cathedral is the most prominent, in fact 
there are few finer edifices anywhere than the Cathedral at Morelia; its 
towers, the great organ, the silver altar rails, vestments and vessels, images 
and candelabra, all of fine silver, have not an equal — though what is there 
now is only a remnant, nearly half a million dollars' worth having been 
confiscated by the government in 1858, for the refusal to pay a levy of 
$100,000, and one wonders how it all could have been used and where to put 
it. There are some interesting pictures and handsome carvings and the silver 
font in which Iturbide and Morelos were baptized. The Cathedral was founded 
at Tzintzuntzan in 1538, was removed to Patzcuaro in 1540, and finally to 
Morelia in 1579, to the little church of La Cruz. The present building was 
begun in 1640 and completed in 1706. 

The Church of San Francisco was founded in 1531, but not completed 
until seventy years later; it is said that an underground passage leads from 
the church to the fields beyond the city. The Church of Nuestra Sefiora 
Socorro dates from 1550, and contains a much venerated image of that Vir- 
gin. In the Santuario de Guadalupe are shown the chains around the atrium 
that were once used to shackle the prisoners of the State. The other churches 
are Carmen, 1596, with some fine pictures by Juan and iN'icolas Juarez and 
Calvera. The Compafiia is of Jesuit foundation, a very handsome group of 
buildings, dating from 1582. The churches of Santa Catalina de Lena, Las 
Teresas and Capuchinas were originally convents. La Merced and San Jose 
are smaller churches. The College of St. Nicholas is the oldest college in 
America, having been founded in 1540, by Bishop Quiroga, a portrait of 
whom is preserved in the building. Among the pupils of later years were 
Morelos and Iturbide. The college was closed during the wars from which 
the country sufi^ered, but remains to-day the oldest and one of the most 
flourishing institutions in the country. Morelia has also a very fine seminary 
for young ladies, however, of modern establishment. 

The surrounding country is very picturesque and ten miles west are the/ 
famous hot springs of Cuincho, famed for their cures. Morelia is very fa- 
mous in the country's history and sufifered greatly in its wars, and many 
have been the dire and dark scenes enacted that made bloody marks on 
her escutcheon; but the fair city of to-day rejoices in honoring her heroes 
and dwells in contentment and peaceful hospitality. The city was founded as 
the City of Valladolid, May i8th, 1541. September 12th, 1828, the name was 
changed to Morelia, in honor of the patriot Morelos. Morelia is the capital 



220 

of the State of Michoacan; it is located on the western division of the Mexi- 
can National Railroad, 225 miles from the capital of the Republic. 

Oaxaca. It was in the year of Montezuma's downfall that the conqueror, 
O-ah-hack'-ah Cortez, sent bands of men, here and there, to spy out the 
land he had invaded. He had deposed the Aztec princes, and the Emperor 
was in chains, a humiliated slave to the Spanish King. There was a lull in 
the wars, and the projects of peace claimed attention. The open road of 
the sea at Vera Cruz left no protection for the Spanish ships. A surveying 
party proceeded down the coast, guided by a chart that Montezuma had 
shown them, and found a harbor at the mouth of the great river Coatza- 
coalcos, that offered safe and suitable accommodations. A spot was selected 
for a fortified post, and a detachment of a hundred and fifty men, under Velas- 
quez de Leon, was sent to form the colony. The route of de Leon was direct 
to the southeast, through the cafions, down through the Valley of Oaxaca, 
where Cortez obtained a grant of a large tract of land, and laid out planta- 
tions for the crown. The estate was soon so prosperous that its value was 
more than twenty thousand gold onzas. The report gives detailed descrip- 
tions of large and beautiful edifices, and some of them the most elaborate 
specimens of Indian architecture in the Province of Oaxaca. The princely 
domain comprehended more than twenty large towns and villages, and 23,000 
vassals. Of these twenty large towns and villages, Mitla was one, and another 
was Oaxaca. 

On his return to Spain Cortez was, by a decree of Charles V, dated July 6, 
1529, created Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, a title by which he was known 
in those days even more than by his own name. To speak of ''the Marquis," 
meant Cortez. The decree granting the estates of the valley was signed in 
the month of July, of that year. 

The route that the little band of Velasquez marched over was down 
through caiions where now runs the jMexican Southern Railroad, the mouth 
of the river Coatzacoalcos, the eastern terminus of the Tehuantepec Railroad. 

Oaxaca was a city, then, before the Spaniards came, and the date of its 
original foundation is as obscure as that of the Ruins of Mitla, though there 
is a record saying that the ancient city was founded in i486, and it is cer- 
tain there was a settlement here much earlier than that, which became a city 
that was called Huaxyacac, which means in the native language "in the nose 
of the guajes" — the guaje is a tree useful for its wood as well as its fruit, 
a tree that abounds in this valley, and each one of the various tribes gave 
the town a name as referring to the guajes — the Zapotecas called the town 
Luhulaa, "place of the guajes;" the Mixtecas called it Nahundua, "land of the 
guajes;" in ]\Iixe it was called Huac Huim. meaning "within sight of the 
guajes;" the Chinautecos called it Nicuhui, "chief place of guajes;" the Maza- 
tecos gave it the name of Naxhintze, "the hill of the guajes." Only two 
tribes gave names that did not mean something about the "guajes," the Cui- 
catecos, called the place Nahanduva. "the wooden trumpet," and the Chochos 
called it Cunchaa, "the residence of the supreme authorities." Thus it may be 
seen in what a roundabout way the guajes {IVahk-hees) came to name the town 
Oaxaca. 

The first foundation of record was by a regiment of soldiers sent thither 
by the Emperor Ahuizotl as a spy upon the actions of Zachila III. Then 
the Spaniards came in 1521 and named the place Antequera from a fancied 
resemblance to a town of that name in Spain; Juan Cedeiio and Hernando 
de Badajos were the leading pioneers. In 1526 the parish of San Marcial 
Oaxaca was given the title of "villa" and on 25th April, 1532, by decree 
of Charles V, Oaxaca became a city; in 1535, June 21st, Pope Paul III estab- 



221 

lished the Bishopric of Oaxaca. On the loth of October, 1872, the old name 
of San Marcial was dropped and the present name of Oaxaca de Juarez 
adopted in honor of her illustrious son, the great president, Benito Juarez, 
who was born here on the 21st of March, 1806. Little is known of the city 
from 1560, when it had a population of 500, till 1790 when it had 14,000 people. 
This great increase was due to the commerce, chiefly in the exportation of 
cochineal, trade in which article alone amounted to over a million a year, an 
industry that is still flourishing. 

When Hidalgo, in 1810, declared for independence, he was denounced by 
the Bishop of Oaxaca as an instrument of Satan, and two emissaries named Lo- 
pez and Armenta, sent by Hidalgo in the disguise of venders of tinder, to spy out 
the land, were taken and executed, their heads were hung up in the street where 
they were taken, and to this day the street is known as the Calle de Armenta 
y Lopez; later there were several other executions among the priests and dea- 
cons in 181 1, and the next year that other patriot priest, Morelos, marched from 
Tehuacan with 5,000 men and forty cannon. In Oaxaca ^Bishop Beigoza preached 
a Holy War against the coming invaders and got together a body of 2,000 
men, Spaniards, priests and students; Gen. Jose Maria Regules had about 
200 Royalist Cavalry and thirty-six cannon of all sizes with which to defend 
the city. 

On the 24th of November, 1812, Morelos arrived in front of the city and 
demanded its surrender within three hours and as no reply was received the 
attack was made by six divisions of the patriot army and after a weak re- 
sistance by the Royalists, Morelos' soldiers were in the streets of the city 
supported by a lively fire from the artillery under Don Manuel Teran and 
the division under Don Ramon Sesma, who was assigned to the storming 
of the Cerro de la Soledad, while Morelos entered the city through the sub- 
urb of El Marquesado, where the Mexican Southern Railway station now 
stands. General Don Jose Maria Regules, the valiant Spaniard, was one of 
the first to find a place of safety in the Convent of Our Lady of Carmen, 
where the women and children had gone for protection, from where a vig- 
orous firing was made on the advancing insurgents, but it was soon taken 
by them under the command of Matamoros, while Teran was victorious in 
the last stand made under the portales in the Plaza. 

The battle was fought and won in two hours, commencing at 10 a. m., 
was over at noon and Morelos in command of the city at one o'clock. The 
Royalist officers were brought before the victorious Morelos, who paroled all 
except General Regules and one or two others, who were executed on the 
spot where Armenta and Lopez were beheaded — and the bodies of these two 
latter, the emissaries of Hidalgo, and of the two deacons Tinoco and Palacios, 
who had also been beheaded by the Royalists, were exhumed and given a 
solemn funeral, with all the honors of war, from the Cathedral with Morelos 
as chief mourner. 

A local government with Don Manuel Nicolas Bustamente as first presi- 
dent of city council was established. Morelos departed for Acapulco m Jan- 
uary, 1813, leaving a garrison of 1,000 men under Col. Benito Garcia, who 
was driven out a year later, in March, 1814, and the city came again into 
the hands of the Royalists and from that time on was taken first by one 
side and then by the other, until the war with Spain was over, and even 
then there was little rest, as in all the revolutions Oaxaca was an important 
base of operations. 

On the 15th of September, 1830, in Oaxaca was born "the man of Mexico," 
and her most illustrious son, Porfirio Diaz, and, from the days of his early 
manhood his history is almost the history of the city; and as well might the 



222 



city's surname be Diaz as Juarez, if the services of both her sons are con- 
sidered. The birthplace of Diaz was in La Calle de Soledad, Number Ten. 

Porfirio Diaz commenced his career in his native city. He was the only 
student who dared to vote against the Dictator Santa Ana and had to fiy 
for his life. Later he returned, drove Garcia out and captured the city. This 
was the beginning of the association of Diaz and Juarez — though Diaz had 
studied law under Juarez and Juarez under Ignacio Mejia — now the three 

were soldiers in a 
common cause and 
remained loyal to 
their country and 
to each other 
through all the 
stormy times of 
the revolutions, 
and the latter lived 
to see his student 
and student's stu- 
dent become presi- 
dents of Mexico. 
In 1858 Diaz de- 
fended Oaxaca 
against Gen. Co- 
bos and pursued 
him to Jalapa. 
Again in i860 
Diaz came up 
from Tehuantepec, 
fought and de- 
feated Cobos 
again near the 
celebrated Ruins 
of Mitla. In 1865 
the French under 
Marshall Bazaine 
laid siege to Oax- 
aca with the great- 
est expedition of 
that war; Diaz 
was again in com- 
mand of the de- 
fense of his own 
town. The siege 
of three weeks de- 
prived his soldiers 
of all food, army 
DOME OF SANTO DOMINGO, OAXACA. storcs and ammu- 

nition; church bells could be made into cannon balls, but there was no 
bread. On one of the last days Diaz placed a howitzer in one of the towers of 
the old convent of San Francisco and stood by it himself till he was literally 
dragged away by his officers. Was finally captured and taken to Puebla a 
prisoner, but soon escaped and after numerous skirmishes, marched against the 
Imperialists and this time was the besieger where but a little over a year before 
he was besieged, and on the ist of November, 1866, made a triumphal entry into 




223 

Oaxaca with many captured cannon, munitions and stores, and then marched 
on Puebla and the City of Mexico. 

After the French war Diaz returned to Oaxaca and the citizens presented 
him in fee simple the Hacienda de la Noria, where he lived for two years, 
the first of peace and quiet for many that had passed; two years of happi- 
ness with the wife he had married by proxy in the days when his country 
had need of him and there was no time for marriage. Don Porfirio re- 
mained in Oaxaca till 1874, when he departed for the United States, a pro- 
scribed man, returned to his country to be made its President, and after his 
"first term came back to Oaxaca and was unanimously elected Governor, and 
when he went again it was once more to the Presidential chair. So Oaxaca 
has been called ""Morada de heroes en el jardin de los dioses,^'' a dwelling 
place of heroes in the garden of the gods. 

The Cathedral is chief among the churches but by no means the largest 
or most imposing building. The founding was in 1553, although the work 
on the walls did not commence in earnest until 1610, and then it was exactly 
a hundred and twenty years before it was completed. The cost of the main 
church with the sagrario and the Capilla de Guadalupe was nearly $2,000,000. 
The first cathedral was in the very primitive church of San Juan de Dios, 
which was built of straw— the Bishop of Antiquera was Dr. Juan Lopez de 
Zarate. 

The church of Santo Domingo is not only the most interesting in this 
city, but there are few in the Republic that form so much of its history. 

The interior adornments of this magnificent church were the finest in 
Mexico; the life size figures of the saints were in relief and literally covered 
with gold; so rich and so heavy was the gold in the walls that the soldiers 
quartered in the adjoining ex-convent employed themselves in removing it 
until the restoration of the church was commenced by Archbishop Gillow. 
It is said that the enormous sum of $13,000,000 was spent on this beautiful 
building, which if true, makes it the most costly church building on the con- 
tinent. 

La Soledad was founded in 1582 and built at a cost of $160,000. I'he ad- 
joining old convent is now used as a School of Arts. 

Of the other churches San Juan de Dios was commenced in 1532; El 
Carmen Bajo, 1544; Las Mercedes, 1570; San Cosme, 1576; La Compafiia, 
1579; Las Nieves, 1581; San Francisco, 1592; San Felipe, 1633; El Carmen 
Alto, 1679; Guadalupe, 1686; San Augustin, 1699; Consolacion, 1706; Las 
Capuchinas, 1728; El Calvario, 1729; El Patrocinio, 1755; Los Princ'pes, 1782; 
Sangre de Cristo, 1791 ; La Defensa, 1792; and Betlem in 1807. The most 
notable of the public buildings is the State Palace, fronting the main plaza^ 
built in 1883-5 at a cost of about $150,000. 

Among the other public buildings are the Palace of Justice, built in 1872; 
Municipal Palace, 1873; Scientific Institute, 1630; State Library, 1880; Hospital 
General, 1865; and the Hospicio in 1876. The very beautiful city of Oaxaca 
is at the junction of two lovely valleys and is almost completely surrounded 
by high mountains, the Cerro de San Felipe del Agua, Monte Alban, and 
near by, the Cerros Creston and Fortin. On Monte Alban are the extensive 
ruins of a pre-historic city; and five miles away are the recently discovered 
ruins of ancient sepulchres called Xoxo; in the hills and valleys of the sur- 
rounding country are evidences of the existence of a civilized race prior 
to the peoples who were here at the time of and just before the conquest.. 

The approach of the railroad is down through a lovely valley. The towers 
may be seen, above the trees, while the train is yet some miles away, and 
when it stops it is under the shadow of a high hill that stands up on the 



224 

east side, and between it and the green fields on the other side of the track, 
stands the station. 

Tram-cars lead from the station to the Plaza Mayor, passing first a little 
plaza shaded by great trees, in the midst of which is a fountain of running 
water; then through the narrow streets, passing the old Church of La Soledad, 
and stopping at the plaza. 

The main plaza, or rather plazas, for there are two of them, are very beauti- 
ful, shaded by immense trees, and filled with flowers; the two join at the 
northeast corner, at the jutting of the Cathedral pavement. The main plaza 
is styled the Plaza de Armas, and in its center is a monument to Juarez, who 
was a native of Oaxaca, as is also General President Porfirio Diaz; the adjoin- 
ing park is called Plaza de Leon. 

Among the other pretty parks are those of Guadalupe, San Francisco, Net- 
zahualcoyotl and Constitution, and most charming spots they are, and the 
grand Paseo or boulevard will entice you. 

One of the finest buildings is the Government Palace, facing the Plaza 
de Armas, and it is, indeed, a palace, with its arched portales extending the 
entire length of the square. The churches of Santo Domingo and La Soledad 
have been monasteries and fortresses as well, and more than once have had 
cannon within their walls, that thundered forth in liberty's cause. There is 
a scientific institute, a seminary, an historical museum, and a library, by 
way of public institutions. The houses of commerce and trade would do 
honor to a larger city, and one with older railroad facilities. There are good 
baths, with elegant appointments, with tiled floors, full-length mirrors, and 
mantel shelves' of onyx. The market, within a square of the plaza, is in- 
tensely interesting, somewhat like the others of Mexico's markets, and yet 
unlike them, in the tropic dress of the people. Every fruit in the world is 
offered, and flowers at ten cents a bushel; the most exquisite roses, in Feb- 
ruary, as many as you can carry, for a real, that would cost a mint of money 
at home. 

Oaxaca, reached by the Mexican Southern Railway, is 228 miles south- 
east of Puebla, boasts of good hotels, and there may be good living while you 
stay in this beautiful place, for its beauties will entice you to linger, and the 
hospitalities of its people make you welcome. 

Orizaba, was a town long before Cortez came and had a Spanish popu- 
O-riz-ah'-ba lation in 1533, when it had one of the unpronounceable names 
of the Chichimec Indians, who saw "joy in the waters" of the numberless 
cascades hereabouts and called the place "Ahauializapan;" but the Spaniards, 
not being able to call it that, without dental danger, from time to time cut 
out some of the letters and reduced the name to Orizaba._ 

With its charming location in a lovely valley, it is just on the first ter 
race above the tierra caliente, where the high hills are close up to the city's 
borders to throw their shadows across the red-tiled roofs, trees and gardens, 
and domes and towers, and to cool the waters of its clear running streams 
and fountains, and with just a glimpse of the snow-capped volcano gleaming 
in the tropic sun, Orizaba is beautiful and very charming. 

Street cars run from the station to the hotels, to the Alameda and the 
plazas, through the city, and extend westward through the very pretty gardens 
to Ingenio, the little lake, the church and the mills at Nogales. The rides 
and drives may be made to the cascades that abound in these hills: the first 
in the Rincon Grande, the next and larger Tuxpango, and two others near 
El Barrio Nuevo and at Santa Ana, very attractive excursions, occupying only 
a few hours; and, besides las cascadas bonitas, there are flowers and ferns and 
orchids to be gathered by the wayside. 



225 

There are hills to be climbed for the very fine views and to visit historic 
spots and legendary locations. The cross on the summit of the Cerro de Bor- 
rego, seen from the cars, marks the spot where some French soldiers were 
slain, and the narrow path up the side was their line of march, where a party 
of Zouaves surprised and defeated the Mexican forces on the night of July 
13, 1862. 

Long cehturies ago the healthful climate of Orizaba was a resort for the 
fever refugees from the coast districts, and remains a favorite in these modern 
days, where they come from Vera Cruz and the Gulf coast cities to pass the 
summer days under the shadow of the hills and in the grateful shade of the 
trees beside the clear, cool waters of La Joya Valley. The place was a fa- 
vorite resort of Maximilian. 




OLD SPANISH BRIDGE— VERA CRUZ RY. 

In the pretty little Alameda is a monument to Ignacio de la Llave, one 
of the notable men of the town, for whom the very fine old Theater La Llave 
was named when it was dedicated in 1857. The markets of Orizaba are es- 
pecially attractive in the array of tropical fruits and flowers, with their venders 
in the bright costumes of the tropic climes. There are so many groves, and 
gardens that it is hard to say whether the coffee groves are in Orizaba or 
Orizaba in the cofifee groves. The streets and plazas are marvelously clean 
and the white-walled bouses gleam brightly in the sun. 

The first parish church, called El Calvario, and later Santa Teresa, was 
built in 1564. The present parish church, San Miguel, is a remarkably hand- 
some building of stone, completed in 1720, after nearly fifty years of build- 
ing, and the tower was not completed till twelve years later. The north 
chapel is called the Corazon de Jesus, and the southern, the Chapel of the 



226 



Rosary. The church contains a magnificently inlaid chest of ebony and ivory 
for the keeping of the sacerdotal robes and vestments. The Church of San 
Jose de Gracia is another fine group of chapel, church and convent, but of 
very modern build, having been completed in 1810. The pictures and frescos 
are by a native artist. Barranca — an artist not without fame in these parts, and 
whose son has proved himself a worthy heir to his father's brush. Pic- 
tures by both are to be seen in all the churches of Orizaba. About the year 
1600 the Church of San Juan de Dios was founded. It was permanently in- 
jured by an earthquake, in 1696, and a new church was commenced; in 1714, 
it wa? completed, but the final completion and dedication was not until 1763. 
It was originally a hospital, built by the charitable townsfolk, for the fever 
refugees from the lowlands; the worthy charity originated by Don Juan Ra- 
mon, Don Pedro Mexia, and Don Sebastian Alaldonado exists to this day, 
but not as the original hospital. That is long since in ruins. The healthful- 
ness of Orizaba is perfect, and a more charming little city is not to be found 
anywhere. Orizaba is in the State of Vera Cruz, on the line of the Mexican 
Railway, 181 miles from the City of Mexico, and, although only eighty-two 
miles from the sea, is 4,832 feet above it. 

Pachuca. Pachuca is a windy city. The winds blow down from the 

Pa-chew'-ka mountains, and up from the valleys, and it seems, sometimes, 

as if they came from both at once, blowing hot and cold, so that it is not 

essentially a resort town, 
except, it may be, for 
miners, for here are some 
of the richest mines in all 
this country. There are 
nearly three hundred 
mines in and about the 
city and suburbs, and in 
the near-by districts of 
Regla and the Real del 
Monte. The mines are 
said to have been discov- 
ered by a poor shepherd, 
nearly four hundred years 
ago. They have been 
worked constantly ever since, yielding fabulous sums every year, till it is im- 
possible to say what the total has been, one mine alone, Trinidad of old, hav- 
ing yielded nearly $50,000,000 in ten years; and the others, Rosario, Candado 
and Xacal have made many fortunes. The old "patio process," or amalga- 
mating process, invented by Bartolome de Medina in 1557, was first used at 
Pachuca. The principal modern mines are Rosario, Santa Gertrudis, Cayetano 
and the Dolores, but no accurate estimate can be put on the amount of 
treasure that has been taken out of their depths. 

The streets are narrow and necessarily very crooked, as they wind up 
and down the steep hillsides, and are, withal, very picturesque. Among the 
notable buildings is the Caja, a fine structure, with great towers above. "built 
in 1670, by the Marquis de Mancera, Don Sebastian de Toledo, as a treasure- 
house for the Crown, when the government had the exclusive distribution 
of quicksilver for use in extracting silver. The Casa Colorado was built bv 
the Conde de Regla, as a public granary. This Conde also built the aque- 
duct of the water suppl}^ 

The Church of San Francisco was founded in 1596. and the present church 
completed in 1660. In the adjacent chapel of Tercer Orden are interred the 




227 

bones of the good Fray Cristobal de la Cruz. What is now the school of 
mines and mining, was once a college of the missionaries. 

The great feast of San Francisco extends from September 30 to October 
8, when the city is given over to bull-fighting, cock-fights and a general good 
time, after the fashion of the people. Further up in the mountains is the 
very curious Real del Monte, reached from Pachuca, over a very fine road. 
The town is in the very heart of the mountains, picturesque to a degree in 
its combination of English houses, with peaked roofs and chimneys, and the 
flat-topped houses of Mexico. The only town in Mexico where there are any 
dwellings with chimneys, as it is quite cold sometimes and fires are necessary. 




ALTAR OF PALENQUE. 

The great house of the town is the Maestranza, containing the offices, store- 
houses and machine-shops of the Cayetano mine. 

In the year 1739, Don Pedro Jose Romero de Terreros, a great miner of 
his day, and an operator of Queretaro, was en route for his home in Spain. 
He came to Pachuca; the richness of the prospect was too much for him; he 
stopped here and spent his fortune, but remained by his venture till he had 
made another and larger fortune. The output from 1762 to 1781, being over 
$12,000,000, and in 1818 the total reached the enormous figure of $30,000,000. 
An English company came into possession in 1824, with shares at a par value 
of £100, that in a year were sold at £16,000, but at the end was a complete 
failure. The mines are now operated with satisfactory results. 

Pachuca is reached by a branch of the Mexican Central Railway from Tula and 
direct from the city ; by the Hidalgo division of the National and by branches 
of both the Hidalgo and Mexican Railways, distant from the City 84 miles. 



228 

Palenque. Buried in the forests of Chiapas, under the tangles of growing 
Pal-en'-ke vines and fallen trees, half hidden by the mold of centuries, are 
the ruins of a prehistoric city that, what little of it the world knows of at all it 
calls Palenque — named not for anything that may be known of its origin, its ap- 
pellation is equally as mysterious. In 1750 some Spaniards wandering in the in- 
terior of the south of Mexico came accidentally upon the remains of an ancient 
city of some eighteen to twenty miles in extent, or, it is more probable, the 
natives led them into this almost impenetrable forest to show them the casas de 
piedras, "houses of stone." Prior to this time and event the existence of such 
a city was unknown; there was no tradition and no book ever made mention 
of these ruins, doubtless older than Herculanseum and more extensive than Kar- 
nak. In 1787 an exploration of the ruins was made under Captain Antonio del 
Rio at the command of the King of Spain. The report of Captain del Rio 
was delayed b}^ revolutions and went by way of Guatemala to London, but 
were not published till 1822. Another expedition under order of Charles IV. 
of Spain was made by Captain Dupaix in 1807, but his report was not pub- 
lished until 1834. Previous to 1831 Colonel Golindo made an expedition to 
Palenque, an account of which was published in the Literary Gazette of that 
year. After that a Mr. Waldeck made an exploration under authority from 
Mexico. In 1839 John L. Stephens, on his return from Guatemala, made a 
reconnoissance into the forests of Chiapas and spent some time within the 
walls of the ancient temples and published some interesting chapters in his 
"Incidents of Travel," which were handsomely illustrated by an English artist 
of note — Catherwood. Since then Charnay and other noted explorers have 
visited Palenque and all without exception agree to its wonders and the pre- 
historic origin, and Stephens says that if a like discovery had been made at 
that time in Italy, Greece, Egypt or Asia within reach of European travel, it 
would have created an interest not inferior to the discovery of Herculanasum or 
Pompeii or the Ruins of Psestum. Mr. Stephens' account is enchantingly in- 
teresting and covers some 200 pages of his book — though he relates all the 
incidents of his travels; for instance, telling of his having heard the Spaniards 
tell of a very peculiar beetle found in the forests of Palenque that emitted 
light from their bodies sufficient to guide travelers in the paths at night, and 
that he found the story was a^rtially true; he found the beetles crawling on 
the walls of the Ruins, and the light from four of them cast a glow several 
yards around, and by the light of one beetle he could read. 

As to the extent of the Ruins, Stephens says that the natives aver that they 
cover a space of sixty miles and that some writers have said that the ancient 
city was ten times larger than New York and three times the size of London — 
but he says also that the natives know nothing about it and strangers less, 
because the surface of the earth is covered by an impenetrable forest, compared 
to which our wildest woodlands is an open field, and that one might pass 
within a hundred feet of the greatest of the temples and not find it; consequently 
the extent is unknown to any one as no exploration has ever been made. But 
there are walls and temples, towers and altars, on the verge of that forest to 
indicate the place of a great city. The remote antiquity of the Ruins is unques- 
tioned. The Padres point to the cross in the tablets as an argument that the 
builders were Christians and that the city was founded in the third century — 
while Dupaix places the date long before the Christian era — but it is all the 
merest guesswork; certainly it was a ruined city uninhabited when Cortez 
marched within thirty miles of it on his way south and did not stop, for he 
did nut know it was there; if it had been inhabited he would have heard of it 
and turned aside to subdue its people. 

The greatest of the temples discovered is vulgarly called "the palace." It 



i29 



is on a pyramid nearly 50 feet high, with a base of 300 by 250 feet. The walls of 
"the palace" are cut by fourteen arched doorways eight feet apart, ten feet wide, 
running up to pointed archways; within the walls are a number of courts, the 
largest of which is nearly a hundred feet square. The floors are covered with 
a plaster and the wall covered with stucco molded or carved into curious figures 
and hieroglyphics. From these floors staircases lead to towers that are yet 
thirty to fifty feet high, and in the olden times must have been much higher. 
There are scores of these temples, but there is not space to even enumerate. 
Stephens mentions in 



his writings two tab- 
lets that were in a 
house in the village 
and his artist, Mr. 
Catherwood, made 
drawings of them; 
these are noted in a 
very interesting work 
on the topography 
and resources of the 
State of Chiapas by 
Sefior Don Ramon 
Rabasa and the de- 
scriptions of the two 
writers are identical, 
although the first 
was written sixty 
years before the sec- 
ond, which is as fol- 
lows: "In the fa- 
cade of the building 
on either side of the 




'3ULMiU 



THE PALENQUE CROSS. 

entrance is a strange figure — one has a headdress of leaves and flowers and 
has a trumpet from which exudes flames and smoke — from the shoulders hangs 
a tiger skin, adorned with a snake, a bird and other devices with bracelets 
on the arms and feet. The other figure has a complicated adornment of the 
head composed of plumes, with the sacred bird, el gavilan, the sparrow hawk 
holding a fish in its beak. The other adornments are a tiger's head and a 
grotesque figure with other gravings. Over both figures are various hiero- 
glyphics." I give the description of Sefior Rabasa and the illustration of Mr. 
Catherwood in Stephens' book. 

The Ruins are three leagues from the village of Santo Domingo del Pal- 
enque, reached by horseback from El Salto and by boat from Frontera to El 
Salto, or via the Usumacinto River to Monte Cristo, thence by horse; in 
either case the trip is not a hard one for the average venturesome traveler, 
who will be amply repaid for whatever discomfort there may be in the journejr. 
The population of Santo Domingo del Palenque is 1,347. 

Parras. A very pretty little city in the heart of the vineyard district of 
Par'-ras northern Mexico — a typical Mexican town, with its plaza and ala- 
meda shaded 'by great trees, its churches with rounded domes above them 
gleaming white in the bright sunshine. The wines of Parras are noted for 
their purity and flavor. Parras is on the Coahuila & Pacific division of the 
Mexican Central Railway, ninety-nine miles from Saltillo and ninety-two from 
Torreon. Population, 6,476. Altitude, 5,032. 



230 



Patzcuaro. If ever you should come to Patzcuaro and see its quaint and 
Patz'-qua-ro curious streets, narrow and crooked, with shrines and saints 
set in the walls at every zig-zag corner ; with its tree-covered plaza, where, on 
the market night, the fishwomen sit beside little oil-wood fires and the native 
comes to buy fish, and the copper and earthen pots to cook them in ; — if you 
should ever come to Patzcuaro, make the climb to Los Balcones and look out 
over the valley, with its scores of towns, and the lake, with its islands rising 
out of the clear waters in cone-like peaks, you will say that the ancient 
Tarascan kings were correct when they called the city "Patzcuaro," "place of 
pleasure." 

Between the station and the town is about a league, over a winding road, 
hard beaten with much travel up and down ihe long steep hill. The mode of 
transportation is the diligencia of the old Mexican type, and its creaking 

leathers only quicken 
the anticipation, but not 
the pace of the mules. 
The ^yayfarers met or 
overtaken, and one 
meets more than are 
overtaken, are on foot 
or on the backs of bur- 
ros, taking the product 
of the field or the yield 
of the lake from the 
valley to the markets of 
the town, or returning 
with the proceeds and 
purchases, so that the 
speed — speed is not ex- 
actly the word here — 
of the coach is not ob- 
jected to; and the view 
gradually grows by 
inches, as it were, till 
the ride is one of the 
pleasures of Patzcuaro. 
Wher. one comes to 
the top of the hill there 
is not time to enjoy the 
panorama spread out in 
the valley where the 
A MEXICAN SAW-MILL. lake is. and then there 

is so much right at the wheels that is new and novel co claim attention. The 
mules, finding the pulling easier than on the incline of the hill, trot along at a 
brisker rate and are soon at the hotel — not a pleasing prospect from the facade, 
but the patio with its flowers and the gallery all around are reassuring; the 
roorns are not so inviting, but the clean newly-made-up beds are satisfying, so 
that it does not matter if there are no carpets and only a tiled floor, one is only 
to stay there when one can go nowhere else, and while one does stay there, it is 
to sleep — to sleep, perhaps to dream of castles in Snain, and wake to find 
a no less pleasing reality in a beautiful land, whose civilization is older and 
whose ruins and legends as interesting. 

The plaza of Patzcuaro is a pretty one. and in the center of it is a beautiful 
pagoda, where the band plays in the evening. •'Over the flowers and fountains, 
which bloom and play from January to January, are the grandest of grand old 




\ 231 

trees that may have sheltered the Tarascan potentates when they came to this 
place of pleasure, and the same perennial verdure is there in the leaves. 

A market night in Patzcuaro is such as could be nowhere else in the world. 
Scores and scores of little fires light the scene. By each fire sits a woman, 
a man or a boy, with their wares around them; the fruits, vegetables and fish 
are in little stacks on mats on the ground. Everything is sold at so much 
per stack in a Mexican market, and if you don't like the size of it, you can go 
where the stacks are larger, or the prices smaller; some sell fish, others fruit 
of every kind that ripens under a tropic sun; the stock in trade of another is 
peppers and potatoes, tomatoes and tamales; another offers earthen vessels 
and some of copper, for household uses, and there are flowers in abundance at 
almost every stand — or, more properly, at every sitting, as the venders all 
sit on the ground surrounded by their stock in trade. 

The portales — columned archways — extend over the sidewalk on the four 
sides of the plaza in front of the stores where they sell zerapes and rebosos. 

A delightful morning walk is through some narrow, crooked streets where, 
in the niches in the walls along, are the fourteen stations of the Cross in the 
street that leads to the Hill and Church of Calvary. 



J^fi^^ 





ON LAKE PATZCUARO, THE VOYAGE TO 7ZINTZUNTZAN. 

Los Balcones is a stone parapet or balcony in front of the Church of 
El Calvario, where there are several stone benches on the edge of a precipice, 
a thousand feet above the plain where the lake is. When the sun is just 
peeping over the eastern peaks of the distant Sierras, tingeing the sky from 
blue to gold and-putting on a mehow light, it is the very prettiest picture. The 
valley and the lake spread out, with the forty-three towns of the plain, and the 
islands rising from the blue waters of the lake like the peaked and castled 
ones in Como, in Italy, makes a picture of surpassing beauty and fascination. 

The plaza, in the morning, is not so weirdly picturesque as when the oil- 
wood fire-light blazed flickeringly, but as fascinating. The old churches, with 
their crude, quaint pictures and their relics and offerings are to be looked over, 
and another visit to Los Balcones is to be made to see the setting of the sun 
that was so bright in its rising. After an early breakfast of the most luscious 
fruits and the delicious coffee from the plantations of Uruapam near by, and 
some fish fresh from the lake, it is time to start for Tzintzuntzan. Canoes 
should be arranged for and they will be waiting — curious canoes, long and 
wide, with high projecting prow and stern, hewn from great trees, each one 
a solid piece. The oarsmen are Indians, with ladle-looking paddles with long 
handles, which are industriously plied, and you are soon on your way up the 
lake. 



232 



The slow progress could not be monotonous on Lake Patzcuaro; there is 
that to see here that could not be seen anywhere else. The islands look like 
the peaks of submerged mountains with just the tops above the water. On the 
steep sides are some quaint little houses, and rising above the trees, almost 
at the top, gleams the white tower of a church, whase little bell sends forth a 
sonorous peal over the water. The picture is a pretty one, and has its double, 
as distinctly outlined as the original, in the marvelously clear water, and every 
single canoe is two, coming together at the keel, as the reflection makes it 
look. The fishermen are busy everywhere; their canoes dot the lake for miles 
around. They are long, flat-bottomed boats, with a piece of cotton cloth 
stretched on hoops for a shelter, not unlike the cover of a country wagon. 
The fishermen stand in the bow with a long pole, which has a net on the end. 
This is dipped in the water at random, and with more or less success. The 
canoes hug the eastern shore, and it is not a long row — not more than three 
hours — to Tzintzuntzan, where the famous Titian is. Tzintzuntzan was once 

a great city, and the 
capital of the Tarascan 
kings; now, only a 
straggling village, with 
a group of ruined 
churches. Your care- 
fully studied salutation 
in Spanish, a handful 
of cigars and a bottle of 
wine, will make the 
padre and you the best 
of friends. He will 
know, even before you 
ask him, that you want 
to see the picture, and 
will open the high 
arched door of carved 
wood which leads to a 
patio or open court. A 
THE TITIAN AT TZINTZUNTZAN. surpliced Indian boy 

brings a lighted candle. The padre leads the way, and a wondering little pro- 
cession follows through a dark corridor that leads up to another massive door, 
barred and chained and padlocked. 

You are back in ancient feudal days, in some old castle opened to you. The 
clanking chains and rusty, creaking hinges are on your prison doors; but the 
boy holds the tallow dip high, and shows the padre's kindly face. You are only 
at Tzintzuntzan, in search of a Titian. 

The door opens into an inner room as dark as night. The padre unfastens 
a grated window and a fiood of golden sunlight comes through and falls full 
upon the picture. 

Such coloring, such composition, such feeling, could only come from a 
masterhand. Whose? Tradition says Titian, and presented by Philip II. of 
Spain. Eminent men, authors and artists agree. The padre closes the window 
and the door, locks and chains them again; the boy holds up his flickering 
torch, and you go out, leaving the padre and his treasures as a dream too 
unreal to be true. An effort has been made to buy the painting, and $50,000 
was offered by the Bishop of Mexico, but the faithful, devoted Indians refuse, 
and the price that bought the "Angelus" would be no temptation. Yet the 
"Entombment" is some hundreds of years older, is the work of an old master, 




233 

and is big enough (the figures are all life size) to make a hundred of the 
"Angelus;" and yet its price would not buy it, the Indians refusing absolutely 
to allow the picture to be taken away. 

In the Casa Municipal of the village is a painting of the Calzontzin Sinzicha 
receiving Christianity. Some attempts at excavating were made in 1855, but 
the Indians were superstitious and quietly filled up the trenches as fast as they 
were dug. 

The See of Michoacan was removed from Tzintzuntzan to Patzcuaro, and 
building of a great Cathedral was commenced, under a bull of Pope Julian III., 
published July 8, 1550. But only a part of the church was finished, since the 
See was removed again to Morelia, and it is now used as the parish church. It 
will hold 3,000 people. The bones of the good Bishop Quiroga, in wrappings 
of silk, are preserved in the church, on the left of the main entrance. Here 
also is an image of Nuestra Sefiora de la Salud, dedicated by Bishop Quiroga. 
Connected with this church there was, in ancient days, a very rich nunnery. 
There is an altar over the spring which supplies the city with the water 
which gushed forth from the rock struck by the staff of Bishop Quiroga. The 
staff is also shown in the Cathedral at Morelia. The Church of San Agustin 
was established in 1576, San Juan de Dios in 1650. The other churches are 
San Francisco and Guadalupe. About a mile eastward of Patzcuaro is the 
chapel of Humilladero, erected on the spot where the Indians received the 
Spaniards with overtures of peace, which were hardly reciprocated by them. 

Of the islands of Lake Patzcuaro there are three, Xanicho, Xaracuaro and 
Pacanda, that are populated by a community of fishermen. Xanicho is the 
largest, with a population of 1,200, and a quaint little church, Geronimo, and a 
school for boys and girls. 

Near Tzintzuntzan is the little town of Iguatzio, where there is a pyramid, 
from which idols, ornaments and arms have been taken, and under which are 
subterranean passages, with supports of timber, which tradition says com- 
municated with those of Tzintzuntzan, discovered in 1855. These and the paved 
road were in existence when the Spaniards came. 

The cruel acts of Nino de Guzman greatly retarded the peaceful work of the 
emissaries of Cortez, Guzman's cruelties culminating in the burning of the 
Cal-zontzin Sinzicha to extort the secret of supposed treasure. After the recall 
of Guzman to Spain came Vasco de Quiroga, a lawyer, afterwards the good 
bishop, who did much to repair the cruel doings, and through him came about 
the good works of peace, and the frightened people returned to their homes and 
were taught to make copper ware and to work in other metals, as well as the 
other arts of peace. The good effect of his teachings are felt in this region 
to this day, and his name is much venerated. He died at Uruapam in 1565, 
March 14, at the age of 96 years. 

The old city of Michoacan, which included Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro, was 
founded February 28, 1534, by a Royal Order of Charles V., but the seat of 
the See was finally to be at Morelia, where it now is. 

Patzcuaro is on the western division of the Mexican National Railroad, in 
the State of Michoacan, 274 miles from the City of Mexico. Street cars from 
the station to the Plaza. 

Puebla. It is called the City of the Angels, but Puebla is a city of tiles. 

Poo-ebMah Tiles are used everywhere, from the domes of the many churches 
of the valley to their walls and floors; glazed tiles of many colors adorn the 
exterior and interior walls of residences, and in varied hues on the towers they 
glisten in the sun. One house in the Calle de Mercaderes has its fafade entirely 
of tiles; and in the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de la Luz, and the old convent of 
Santa Rosa, now an insane asylum, are some very beautiful mosaics of tiles. 



234 

Looking down from the surrounding hills, or in the approach across the plain, 
the tiled towers present a picturesque effect. 

The history of Puebla is romantic, and full of legends. The original name 
of the city was Puebla de los Angeles, from the vision that led to its founding 
on this site, or rather, two visions. One legend goes on to tell of the marshalling, 
in mighty hosts, of the angels above the place where the city now stands. The 
other story is, that the good Fray Julian Garces, desirous of founding a halting- 
place between the coast and the capital, set about to find a site for his city, and 
one night, as he rested from his labors, he dreamed a dream, and in it saw a 
beautiful plain, on the slope of the great volcanoes, with two little hills about a 
league between ; there were springs in the plain, and two rivers of abundant 
waters, with living trees and flowers. While he looked upon this, two angels 
appeared, with rod and chain, and measured streets and squares. After this 
remarkable dream, the Bishop awoke and immediately set out. Guided by the 
same power that showed the vision, says the chronicler, he soon came to the 
plain of his dream, saying, ''Here hath the Lord, through his angels, shown me 




SHOPS ALONG THE CHURCH WALL— PUEBLA. 

the site of the cit}^, and to His glory it 'shall be made." And thus came the 
name Puebla de los Angeles. But more substantial history relates that some 
fifty families of Spaniards, from Tlaxcala, came to this valley, and, on the 16th 
of April, 1532, commenced the building of houses of the city that for more 
than three hundred and fifty years has borne the name derived from the 
vision, till it was officially changed to Puebla Zaragoza, in honor of the hero of 
the battle of the 5th of May, 1862. 

Puebla has seen much of the vicissitudes of war, and, next to the capital, 
has suffered most. It was captured by Iturbide, August 2, 1821; occupied by 
General Scott, May 25, 1847; was the scene of Zaragoza's victory. May 5, 1862; 
recaptured by the French on the 17th of May, 1863. and in turn taken from them 
four years later, April 2, 1867, by General Porfirio Diaz. 

Northeast of the city, within the suburbs, is the hill and fort of Guadalupe, 
named for the church that was there in the earlier days. Here was the battle 
ground of the 5th of May, 1S62, when General Zaragoza. with 2,000 men, 
repulsed the 6,000 French soldiers, under de Lorencez; the French re-occupied 
the city in 1863, but in 1867, April 2, General Porfirio Diaz recaptured the forts 



235 



and made prisoners the en- 
tire French garrison of Pu- 
ebla. The ruins of the church 
were used for fortifications, 
and, with the stone, the fort 
was built, though the church 
was not completely demol- 
ished. The crypt was used 
as a magazine, and the other 
parts put to baser uses. On 
a slightly lower hill, called 
Ivoreto, about half a mile 
north, is the fort of Cinco de 
Mayo, and within its walls 
the little chapel of Loreto. 
The view from the hill of 
Guadalupe is one of extreme 
beauty. 

In the earlier days of the 
French war General Diaz was 
himself a prisoner in Puebla. 
He was paroled from 6 a. m. 
to 6 p. m. daily, on his honor. 
But during the night he was 
not on parole and managed 
to dig through the walls and 
escape. 

The city is spread out on 
the plain in the foreground. 
To the westward the great 
volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Ixtaccihuatl; to the north is 
the mighty Malintzi, and to 
the east old Orizaba; the 
lesser hills are Tecolote on 
the left, and the Cerro del 
Conde; to the right Amaluca, 
near by the hill and fort of 
L/oreto; to the left, the Cerro 
San Juan, with its arched 
hacienda, and beyond it the 
Pyramid of Cholula. There are 
churches, churches, every- 
where, and in all directions, 
where their walls and domes 
of all the colors; San Agustin 
is white; San Jose, red; 
Santo Domingo, white; Con- 
cepcion, brown; Santa Teresa, 
yellow; San Cristobal, red; 
Carmen, yellow; San Angel de 
Analco, red; Compania, blue; 
Soledad, white; San Fran- 
cisco, grey; while towering 




ALTAR, CATHEDRAL, PUEBLA. 



236 



above all is the brownish-grey of the Cathedral, and, far away, the white towers 
of Los Remedies, on the top of Cholula's pyramid. There is not a picture like 
it in many days' travel, and there may not be in all the world. 

It is not a long walk to this hill of Guadalupe, a trifle tiresome, but very 
pleasant, if you take your time. The way is through the Plazuela de San 
Francisco, out by the old Plaza de Toros, across the stone bridge over the 
Atoyac, through the little paseo, and by the group of churches of Calvario 
San Juan del Rio and Piadosas, and over the old causeway where marched the 
processions in olden times; this is the way to Guadalupe. 

The streets of Puebla are wide, as streets go in Mexico, and are wonder- 
fully clean, sloping from curb to center, where, in some of them, are running 
streams, while others are flooded for sanitary purposes. The parks and plazas 
are pretty, indeed, with their trees, and flowers and fountains. The markets are 
more metropolitan than Mexican, though many curious articles are offered 
in the stalls. Mats and baskets of colored straw, the crude crockery of Puebla 
manufacture, clay figures and Indian carvings of onyx. The buildings are 
more pretentious than in the average city of the country, though built in 
purely Mexican style. They are two and three stories high. There are two 
theatres and two bull-rings, and the bull-fights of Puebla are notable for their 
excellence, if that word may be used in connection with the sport. 

The public buildings are not so ambitious as might be expected in so fine a 
city. The legislative sessions are in the old Alhondiga, on the Plaza Mayor, 
and the Courts are in the old Colegio de San Pantaleon; the penitentiary is 
one of the finest in the land. There is a State College, with libraries of nearly 
40,000 volumes; a Normal School, and other educational institutions, and an 
Academy of Fine Arts; also, several hospitals. 

The Cathedral of Puebla rivals the great Cathedral of the City of Mexico, 
and, except in point of size, is regarded by many as the finer church. Bishop 
Zumarraga laid the corner stone of the first church, in 1532, and of the first 
Cathedral in 1536, but the present building was not begun until a hundred years 
later; it was consecrated April 18, 1649. The location is on a stone terrace, 
to the south of the Plaza Mayor. The church is surrounded by an iron railing, 
placed in 1886-87. This, with a monument, is in memory of Pius IX. Between 
the two tall towers of the west front is the main doorway, with the date above. 
1664, marking the completion of this portion of the building. The building is 
323 feet long and loi feet wide, with a height on the inside of 
more than eighty feet, the whole surmounted b}^ a splendid 
dome. The old tower, which alone cost $100,000, contains 
, eighteen bells, the largest of which weighs nearly 20,000 
pounds. The great choir, built of stone, is in the center of 
the nave, inclosed in wrought-iron gratings, made in 1697. 
/ The carvings of the organ are superb, in native woods, as are 
' the doors of the entrance-ways. The work of Pedro Muhos, 
begun in 1719 and completed 24th of August, 1722. To the 
left of the altar and between it and the choir is the pulpit, 
carved from Puebla onyx. The intricate marquetry work is 
a revelation. On the door that leads to the Bishop's seat is an 
inlaid picture of St. Peter, and in the shrine above is pre- 
served a thorn from the crown of Christ. The interior of the 
Cathedral was repaired in 1887 by a native of Cholula, Senor 
Leandro Tello. The high altar was commenced in 1789, and 
completed in 1819. at a cost of $110,000. It is constructed of 
.every conceivable marble of Mexico, and the exquisite onyx of 
Puebla, the work of a native artist, Manuel Tolsa. Beneath the 




237 

altar is the tomb of the Bishops, this also laid in beautiful slabs of onyx. 
The chapels are the Capilla de los Reyes, with g shrine and image of 
Nuestra Sefiora de la Difensa, to whom is attributed many miracles; the Capilla 
de San Jose contains a fine figure of that saint, and an ivory crucifix, a present 
to Bishop Vasquez by Gregory XVI.; the Bishop's tomb is in front of the 
chapel. The Capilla de los Relicarios has an altar of richly carved wood, and 
a silver urn, containing the ashes of San Sebastian de Aparicio, also the busts 
of other saints, with relics of their bones carried, under glass, on their breasts. 
Here are scores of boxes, containing relics innumerable. 

In the sacristy are many pictures, set in golden, carved frames; the tables 
have slabs of richest onyx, and the vestment chests are handsomely carved. 

Among the portraits in the Cathedral are those of the various Bishops of 
Puebla, of Gregory XVIII., Charles V., Fray Julian Garces, first bishop of 
Puebla, Leo X.; in the sacristy are some rich tapestries of Flanders, presented 
by Charles V. Among the other pictures are the Fourteen Stations of the 
Cross, the Holy Sacrament, the Assumption, the Apparition of Nuestra Sehora 
de la Merced to San Raymundo de Penafort, a Virgin and Child, by Ibarra, 
a Dolores de Acazingo, the Triumph of Mary, and a Last Supper, with many 
others. 

The parish church adjoins the Cathedral, where there are other fine pictures, 
and a picture by Zendejas when he was over ninety years old; also a beautiful 
baptismal font of onyx. 

The Church of San Francisco is next to the Cathedral in point of interest 
and beauty. Founded in 1532, on the hill above the Atoyac, the present church 
was begun in 1667. The very high tower is built of a bluish-grey stone, beau- 
tifully carved, and laid in panels of tiles. The old convent of this church is 
now used as a military hospital. The flat arched roof, the story says, was 
not trusted by the architect; he feared to remove the supporting timbers, and 
left it to the priests to do. They were afraid to send laborers to take them 
out, and it was concluded to burn them out. It was done; the arch remained 
intact, and is to-day, after more than two hundred years. In this church is 
a little image, carved in wood, of Nuestra Sehora de los Remedios, called La 
Conquistadora. It is only about eight inches high, with a little child in its 
arms. This was presented by Cortez to Axotecatl Cocomitzin, the Tlaxcalan 
chief, in token of his friendship. 

Here also is the chapel of San Sebastian de Aparicio, who first introduced 
wheeled carts and oxen into Mexico, and who drove an ox-cart between 
Vera Cruz and the city, and later, in 1542, on the roads north to Zacatecas. 
The Fray's bones were formerly kept in this chapel, until they were removed 
to the Cathedral, where they now are, in the Capilla de los Relicarios. The 
image on the high altar is that of San Antonio de la Torre holding the child 
Jesus. In the sacristy are the portraits of the twelve Franciscans known as the 
"Twelve Apostles" of Mexico; here also a Holy Sepulchre, a Last Supper 
and other paintings of more or less merit. There is a most interesting old 
panteon in connection with the church. 

La Compaiiia was founded April 15, 1587; the present church completed 
in 1690. There are two towers and a tiled dome. There is a fine figure of 
San Ygnacio Loyola, some good carvings and paintings of unusual merit; 
among the pictures is the Triumph of Mary, by Jose Carnero, and a Descent 
from the Cross. The altar pictures are by Villalobos. 

San Cristobal was founded more than three hundred years ago. The pulpit 
is of onyx. This is one of the few Mexican churches with seats, with the 
unusual feature, also, of having separate seats for men and women. 

Of the other churches, San Antonio contains a relic of the skin of one of 



238 

the saints; Nuestra Senora de la Luz is particularly noted for its beautiful 
tile work; Santa Clara, noted for its fine arches, possesses a thorn from the 
crown of Christ; San Jose is the saint who protects Puebla from the light- 
ning, an image of whom is in his church, carved from a tree destroyed by 
lightning; La Soledad is one of the finest of the forty-six churches of Puebla, 
but to write their history, or even record their legends, would make many 
volumes. 

From the brilliant victory of the fifth of May, the name of the hero of 
that day was added and the city is now officially known as Puebla de Zara- 
goza. Reached from the City of Mexico via the Mexican Railway and via 
the Interoceanic, via these lines also from Vera Cruz. Time from the 




PYRAMID OP CHOLULA. 

capital about three hours, from Vera Cruz twelve. The Mexican Southern 
Railway extends from Puebla to Oaxaca. 

The Pyramid of Cholula. The date of the building of the Pyramid 
Cho-loo'-la of Cholula is unknown. Even before the 
Aztecs came to the plain of Cholula, the great pyramid was there in the 
midst, and the people told them the legend of it, that it was built by a race 
of giants descended from the two survivors of a great deluge that overspread 
the land, and whose intent it was to raise its heights to heaven, but they 
incurred the displeasure of the gods, who sent forth fires and destroyed them. 
This indeed is the story that is coincident with the Chaldean and Hebrew 
accounts of the Deluge and the Tower of Babel, of which there is so much 
in the traditions of these people that is similar to the tales of the Bible. On 
the summit stood the sumptuous temple of the mystic deity, Quetzalcoatl, the 



i239 

"god of the air," whose image was there, under its pinnacled towers, as the 
chronicler says, with ebon features, wearing a mitre on his head, waving 
with plumes of fire; a resplendent collar of gold was about the neck; pend- 
aiits of mosaic turquoise in his ears; a jeweled scepter in one hand, and a 
curiously painted shield, emblem of his reign over the winds, in the other. 
Cholula was, in those ancient days, what Rome is to-day. Pilgrims came 
from hundreds of miles — as do the Mohammedans to Mecca — to bow down be- 
fore the temple of Quetzalcoatl, in the holy city of Anahuac. Cortez declared 
that he counted four hundred towers in the city of Cholula, yet no temple 
had more than two, and some only one. High above the rest rose the great 
temple on the pyramid, with its never-dying fires spreading their radiance 
over the capital, proclaiming the return of the deity to resume his rule over 
the land. Such was the pyramid and city as the Spaniards saw it at their 
coming, and the people they found there could tell little else of its history 
than is written here. The temple was thrown down promptly as was the 
custom of the conquerors, and a Christian church placed in its stead, that 
stands to this day. 

The pyramid has the appearance of a natural hill, as its sides are overgrown 
with trees and bushes, which is but an evidence of its great antiquity, as the 
interior is composed of alternate layers of sun-dried brick, clay and limestone. 
The height is 177 feet above the plain. The four sides face the cardinal points, 
and are laid in terraces that now are overgrown with shrubs and trees. 
The base lines are more than a thousand feet on each side, or twice as long as 
the great Cheops; or, to give a better idea of its size, is to say that it cov- 
ers twenty acres of the plain. A paved road leads up the steep west side, 
with steps of hewn stone, to the arch and cross of the entrance-way to the 
Church of Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, on the very top. From the bal- 
conies the view of the valley and surrounding mountains, the many churches, 
with their glazed tile towers, and the towns and villages of the plain, is su- 
perb. There are two other pyramids or "mounds," as Bandelier prefers to 
call them, the Cerro de Acozac and the Cerro de la Cruz. Acozac, about 
1,300 feet southwest of the great pyramid, is forty-nine feet high with base 
lines of fifty-five to 150 feet. The sides are vertical and a ladder is necessary 
for the ascent. The Cerro de la Cruz is about 350 feet west of the Pyramid 
itself; it is forty-four feet high and has a base of 1,230 feet in circumference 
and 460 feet at the top. Both these "cerros" are of adobe bricks. On the 
Cerro de la Cruz tradition says that Cortez caused the first mass to be said 
in 1519. On the plains round about are numerous other cerros, or cerritos, 
as they are much smaller. 

The town of Cholula has dwindled, from the great capital of a mighty 
nation, to less than 5,000 people. The market place, "Tianquiz," is still called 
by its ancient name. Near the plaza is the ruins of an abandoned monastery 
of San Francisco, founded in 1529. The church on this spot, called San Ga- 
briel, was founded in 1604; it has a very handsome altar of expensive adorn- 
ment. Near by and adjoining the walls, is the Royal Chapel and Terce* 
Orden, whose roof of domes is supported by sixty-four round columns. 
This church was built in 1608, for overflow meetings. There are twenty- 
seven other churches in Cholula, and from the pyramid the towers of thirty 
more can be counted on the plains near by. 

The ride on the street cars across the Atoyac Valley, from Puebla to 
Cholula, is a delightful one. The track runs along the highway, between it 
and an arched aqueduct. The hacienda of San Juan is the stone building 
on the crest of a hill to the left, carried by assault in one of the numerous 
battles around Puebla. The way is across a stone bridge, with arched en- 



240 

trances, over the Atoyac River, passing churches and haciendas in numbers, 
on both sides, with something to interest in every one of the eight miles. 

Queretaro. Queretaro occupies a prominent place in Mexico's history. 

Kay-ret'-aro j^ ^y^g ^^ Otomite town before the Spaniards came, and 
was made a city as early as 1655, by a decree of Philip IV, of Spain. Nearly 
every Mexican town has its legend; that of Queretaro is, that an Otomite 
chief, Fernando de Tapia by name, undertook to Christianize the town by 
fighting, which seems to have been the earlier method. He came from Xilo- 
tepec and Tula, to challenge the people of Queretaro to what might be called 




SANTA ROSA, QUERETARO, 

a "fair fist and skull" fight, the citizens to be baptized or not as they were 
beaten or victorious. But it was not to be a fair fight, after all, for while 
the performance was proceeding, a dark cloud Came up, and the blessed 
Santiago was seen in the heavens with a fiery cross. This ended the fight, the 
people of Queretaro were baptized, and in commemoration of the miracle, 
set up a stone cross, on a site now occupied by the church of Santa Cruz, 
which is shown above the high altar in proof of the legend. 

As in the case of many Mexican towns, this one derives its name from 
an Indian word meaning a game of ball, or from "querenda," a rocky peak. 

Queretaro was the place of the ratification of the treaty of peace between 
the United States and Mexico, in 1848, and figured, more or less, in the later 



241 

wars and revolutions, till the town is full of warlike reminiscence. Maximil- 
ian's last stand was made here, and his surrender on the morning of the 15th 
of May, 1867. Maximilian had his headquarters in the old convent of La 
Cruz, and had arranged to attempt an escape on the night of the 14th of 
May, but before the plans could be carried out the Republican soldiers ef- 
fected an entrance through the stone walls of the orchard back of the con- 
vent and surprised the bodyguard. The Emperor with his stafif escaped from 
the convent, passed through the city to the Cerro de las Campanas, where he 
was captured and brought back to La Cruz, but in a few days removed to 
the convent of the Capuchinas, where he remained till his death. 

The story of "poor Carlotta" is one of the saddest, and had its saddest 
feature at Queretaro, where her beloved, but unfortunate, husband met his 
death. Maximilian was executed on the Cerro de las Campanas, just in the 
western limits of the city, June 19, 1867, and with him the Generals, Miramon 
and Mejia. The place of execution is marked by a beautiful chapel. 
The two generals fell at the first volley, but it required a second firing be- 
fore the Emperor was dead. He had requested that he mJght be shot in the 
body, that his mother might look on his face. He had been led to believe 
that his wife was dead, a story of consolation in pity given, to which he re- 
plied, "one tie less to bind me to earth." 

The body was taken to an old convent of the Capuchins, but subsequently 
to Austria and buried at Miramar. A martyr cruelly betrayed by the French 
Emperor, and seemingly by all the world except a devoted wife, who pleaded 
for succor in vain to him and to the Pope of Rome. The Government of 
the United States protested against the execution, although an imperial power 
on this continent is inimical to its doctrines, but the protest was unheeded. 
The Princess Salm-Salm, remembered in our own war times, rode 160 miles 
to San Luis Potosi, and on her knees begged President Juarez to spare the 
captive, but all unavailing, and Maximilian died a martyr to a political prin- 
ciple. 

Mendez was the first of the generals to be executed. On the 19th of May 
he was placed near the wall of the Plaza de Toros and shot. 

The court-martial was convened in the Iturbide Theatre, June 14, 1867, at 
10:00 a. m., and at 10:00 p. m. on the 15th the sentence of death was pro- 
nounced, and at once approved by General Escobedo, who ordered the exe- 
cution to take place the next day, but a telegram from Juarez, at San Luis 
Potosi, postponed the execution till the 19th. 

The trial was based on the law of January 25th, 1862, which provided 
for the execution on the spot of capture of all caught bearing arms against 
the government — a trial that in this case could have but one verdict. Maxi- 
milian was ill and did not attend the trial. Maximilian, at the instance of 
Bazaine, had promulgated a similar law October 3d, 1865, that was even 
more cruel. 

The morning of the execution dawned bright and beautiful so that Maxi- 
milian remarked, *T always wished to die on such a day." With Father Soria 
the Emperor left the convent at 6 a. m. in a carriage and was driven to the 
Cerro, Mejia and Miramon following in other carriages. Arrived at the hill 
the prisoners were placed against a low wall of adobe erected for the purpose. 
Maximilian was expected to occupy the center, but he stepped to the right 
and placed Miramon in the center saying: "A brave soldier must be hon- 
ored by his monarch even in his last hour; therefore permit me to give you 
the place of honor." An officer and seven men stood only a few yards away. 
The Emperor went to them, took each soldier by the hands, gave each a 
piece of gold, saying: "Muchachos! (boys) Aim well, aim right here," point- 



243 

ing to his heart. Then stepping back to his place in the line addressed the 
soldiers, hoping that his blood might be the last to be shed. Then came the 
command to fire. Maximilian shouted: "Viva Independencia! Viva Mex- 
ico." Miramon said: "Viva Mexico! Viva el emperador!" and Mejia gave 
utterance to the same cries, the guns were fired and the empire was dead. 

The convent of the Capuchins is now a dwelling. The chapel on the Hill 
of the Bells, erected in 1889, replaced the three crosses that marked the spot where 
the ill-fated emperor and his generals stood to receive the fire of their execution- 
ers — the exact position of each is shown by tablets in the pavement of the chapel. 
The Chapel was erected, under permission of President Diaz, by the friends 
and admirers of Maximilian, approved by the House of Hapsburg. Diplomatic 
relations between Mexico and Austria were resumed soon after the dedication 
of the chapel. 




CONVENT OF LA CRUZ, QUERETARO, MAXIMILIAN'S HEADQUARTERS. 

The Cathedral, formerly the Church of San Francisco, built in 1698. has 
some very beautiful decorations in sculpture, carvings and paintings. Near 
by is the Chapel of San Loreto. Santa Clara, founded by a rich Indian, the 
Cacique Diego de Tapia, son of the introductor of Christianity in the town 
in 1633, San Felipe, Santo Domingo. San Antonio, San Agustin, Carmen, 
Merced, Santa Teresa, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz, containing the stone 
cross that was set up and worshiped by the Indians, on their conversion on 
the day of Santiago, nearly 400 years ago, arc among the many churches, 
whose towers are seen from the cars. At the village of San Francisco is the 
church, or rather shrine, of Nuestra Scfiora del Pucblito, containing a curious 
image of the Virgin, which at intervals weeps and sometimes assumes a 
countenance anything but pleasant, much to the disquiet of the Indians, and 



243 



who, for the time being, are put on their good behavior, at least till the clouds 
roll by. 

Mr. Charles Dudley Warner says of the church of Santa Rosa at Quere- 
taro : "One of the finest chapels in the world, it is at any rate unique. I 
know of no church in the world so rich in wood carving. It is overlaid with 
thick gold leaf, almost gold plate, and, in some places, the gold is overlaid 
with transparent tortoise shell. The great altar piece, which is said to have 
been the richest part of the chapel, was wantonly destroyed by the French 
when they occupied the city. They tore it down and burned it in order to 
get the gold. I was told in Queretaro that, they took gold to the value of 
a million and a half of dollars. I can readily believe, judging from the thickness 
of the gold leaf remaining that the sum obtained was immense. In the sacristy 
covering one end of 
the wall is a painting 
that would attract ad- 
miration anywhere. In 
the central space is an 
altogether lovely fig- 
ure of Santa Rosa. In 
form and color the 
compositions would do 
no discredit to Muril- 
lo/' The church is the 
work of the great 
Tresguerras of Celaya. 

The old convent of 
San Agustin is now 
the Federal Building, 
containing postoffice, 
telegraph and other 
federal offices. The 
uplifted hands of the 
figures between the 
arches of the upper 
gallery show all the 
signs of the deaf and 
dumb alphabet. In the Jardin de la Independencia is a fine statue of Seiior 
Marques de la Villa del Villar del Aguila, Don Juan Antonio de Urrutia y 
Arana, who contributed $88,287 of the $131,091 that it cost to build the magnificent 
aqueduct that supplies the city with water. The aqueduct was commenced in 
1720 and finished in 1735. The first stone of the fountain and statue of 
the Marques was laid in 1843; partly destroyed by a cannon ba-1 in the siege of 
1867, the work was completed in 1892. 

In the Jardin Zenea, which is the main plaza, is a delightful little forest 
of trees and flowers with its statue of Neptune by Tresguerras and a beautiful 
pagoda where there is music in the evenings. 

In one of the Calzadas of the Alameda is a column with a statue of Colum- 
bus. On the north tablet of the base are inscribed the arms of Queretaro 
and the memorable dates of the history of the- state; on the east are the names 
of the patriots and on the west the benefactors, and on the other meterological 
data. 

In the Panteon de la Cruz is the handsome mausoleum of the heroine la 
Sefiora Corregidora Josefa Ortiz de Domlnguez, whose remains were brought 




CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS, MAXIMILIAN'S PRISON, QUERETARO. 



244 

from the City of Mexico and deposited here in 1894, with great pomp and 
ceremony and now, as one of the orators of the day said, "Queretaro has on 
the east in the Panteon of La Cruz, the light of hberty in the sarcophagus 
of Sefiora Ortiz de Dominguez, and on the west, on the Cerro de las Cam- 
panas, the sepulchre of the monarchy." 

The City of Queretaro, rejoicing in good government, abounds in edu- 
cational and charitable institutions among which may be mentioned the civil 
College, Normal School, Conservatory of Music, Hosp'cio Vergara, Hospi- 
tal Civil, School of Arts, Seminario Conciliar, Academy of San Fernando and 
many primary schools. 

The Municipal Palace was in 1810 the house of the Corregidora Dominguez 
where Sehora Josefa, under guise of a literary society, held meetings which 
were attended by the parties in arranging for the war of Independence ; but 
through, the key-hole of the door spies looked and listened ; the plans were not 
frustrated but hastened, as that energetic woman sent word that night to Hidalgo 
that they were discovered and before another night had passed the patriot priest 
had spoken the grito of Mexican Independence. 




CHAPEL ON THE HILL OF THE BELLS. 

The State Palace contains the halls of legislature, courts and offices and 
salons of the Governor; a fine building with a patio surrounded by arched 
portales, and in the rear a pretty garden. The historical room contains many 
interesting relics. The lock and key of the house of Senora Ortiz de Do- 
minguez; the coffin of Maximilian; the stools on which Mejia and Miramon 
sat during the trial ; the table on which the death warrants were signed, 
with the ink-stand and pen ; portraits of the chief actors in the country's his- 



245 

tory from Hidalgo to Maximilian ; battle-flags, pictures, and interesting arch- 
ives. This collection completed and many other important and interesting 
works were stimulated by the energy of His Excellency, the Governor, Sefior 
Don Francisco Gonzales de Cosio, during the decade from 1890. 

The city of Queretaro lies between the tracks of the Central and the Na- 
tional Rys. A good view of the city may be seen from passing trains. Just 
after leaving the city, going south, the Central's track passes under; the Na- 
tional's near the aqueduct of the city's water supply, which is nearly five miles 
long. The tallest arch is nearly a hundred feet high. The water comes from 
the mountains, over the aqueduct, and is distributed through the city. One 
of the prettiest is the main Plaza, a very bower of palms and tropical trees ; 
and, by the way, you that have been looking for palm trees all along may 
see the first at Queretaro. The climate is very delightful. Year in and year 
out it is one succession of early summer days. Queretaro is the place of opals. 

Queretaro is the capital of the State of Queretaro, and is one of the most 
Important cities of Central Mexico, being a distributing point and a manu- 
facturing center. The principal industries are the manufacture of cotton goods, 
leather and leather wares, and sugar. The Hercules cotton factory is one of 
the largest in the country; it employs several hundred operatives, taken from 
the native population. Population of Queretaro, 34,576. Altitude 5,963 feet, 

Street cars run from the stations to the plaza, and beyond to the Hercules 
mills and the suburbs, and the Canada, a delightful suburban village. Distance 
from the City of Mexico, 153 miles. 

Saltillo. That picturesque garment, the zerape, so much affected by the 

Sal-teel-yo Mexican, and which does overcoat duty for a large contingent 
not possessed of the wherewith to buy a sobre todo of more modern fashion, 
had its chief point of manufacture at Saltillo; at least those that have artis- 
tic coloring, and whose textile is the most delicately woven, with the softest 
finish, are native to that city, and to possess one from the hand looms of 
that city was to own the very best. The zerape of to-day is machine woven, 
and though some are made by hand, they are not the things of beauty they 
were in times past, and one of ancient date is really a joy forever. An old 
Mexican explained to me the difference in colors then and now, and the 
cause of the change. He said that in the old days the designs of decorative 
colors were taken from the plumage of the birds and from the flowers of 
the land, so there were softer tints where natural beauty blended them, than 
in these modern days, when the untutored eye is caught by the flaring colors 
of cheap tints and gaudy combinations of the more civilized but less taste- 
ful foreigner, who unwittingly, in the wares he sold the natives, changed the 
whole school of coloring in the native mind. This applies, not only to the 
zerapes of Saltillo, but to the pottery of Patzcuaro and Guadalajara. 

Saltillo is the capital of the State of Coahuila, which once included all 
of Texas. The city was founded in 1586, but was not incorporated until 1827. 
The location is just on the rise of the plateau, and the climate is a delightful 
one, with only a very few days of cold weather in all the year. All the fruits 
of the temperate zone, and many of the tropics, are grown. Apples and 
oranges, pears and bananas, are found in the same gardens that are on either 
side of the street through which the railroad runs. The short distance from 
the station to the very pretty plaza may be made by street cars, or carriages, 
always waiting the arrival of trains. The driver will make a contract, at 
very low figures, a:nd it may be that there is a lack of elegance in equip- 
ment, yet it takes you to the lovely little alameda, to the baths of San Lor- 
enzo or Alta Mira, and to the churches^ which we call San Francisco or Car- 



246 

men, and brings you safely to the hotel. Water is brought to the city by 
means of a long aqueduct extending back into the hills. 

The battlefield of Buena Vista is about five miles south of Saltillo, hardly 
worth the while of an excursion, as it may be seen from the windows of the 
cars. The field is on the east side of the track. This, and tfie fort on the 
hill, a relic of the French occupation, is all there is to connect Saltillo with 
the country's histor^^ Saltillo is on the ^Mexican National Railroad, 569 miles 
from the capital, reached also via the Central from Torreon and Paredon. 

Salvatierra. Down in the Lerma Valley is one of the prettiest towns in 

Salva-te'-er'-ra Mexico, and, withal, one of the oldest and most thriving — 
going on in age to its second century, and possessing extensive cotton and 
woolen mills. Long ago Salvatierra was a trading point, and its location in 
the midst of a fertile plain has made it a place of importance. 

The tower on the north of the track, seen from the car windows, is that 
of the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de las Luces, the parish church, and a very 
fine one, with handsome decorations and paintings. There are other churches 
well worth a visit. The Plaza, the Alameda and the markets are all inter- 
esting, but the most picturesque is the bridge of stone arches which spans 
the Rio Lerma, as old, almost, as the city is. It is a picture in itself, with 
its quaint traffic crossing to and fro, going to town and country with the 
product of the field and farm, or the results of tienda trades in town. The 
town was founded in 1643, and named for the then viceroy. The lands were 
donated by Don Andres Alderete and his wife for the city, for which they 
received an annuity from the crown of 2,000 pesos. The location of Salvatierra 
was in the path of marching armies; the city suffered more or less during 
the various wars, but recovered rapidly, and now the progress of peace is 
evidenced in all her streets. Salvatierra is in the State of Guanajuato, on 
the Mexican National Railroad, 197 miles from the City. 

San Luis Potosi. There is San Luis and a St. Louis in every coun- 
San Lu-ese Po-to-see' try, but there is onl}'^ one San Luis Potosi — only 
one San Luis of the Treasure — that in Mexico, the capital of the State oi 
that name, and one of the most satisfactory cities in all that country. In the 
midst of a spreading plain of great fertility, the gardens and groves extend 
into fields that stretch away to the circling hills, that are rich in mineral 
deposits of the precious metals, notably those of the rich San Pedro mines, 
where the annual silver output runs up into the millions. Long before the 
advent of the Spaniard the mines were known to the natives, and were re- 
vealed by a pious Indian, with the hope of advancing the cause of Chris- 
tianity. A venerable monk called the place by its present name, from its 
resemblance to the Potosi mines in Peru. Since then the production has 
been in untold millions down to the present day, when the annual coinage oi 
the mint has been more than $3,000,000. 

San Luis was not made a city till about 1666. although a settlement was 
made there 100 years earlier, so the city has not been one of a mushroom 
growth; and the advent of the railroad has not been the cause of its pros- 
perity, because this city has been, for a hundred years or more, a great trad- 
ing center for the eastern, as Guadalajara has been for the western slope. 
Until the completion of the railways, the means of transportation to the sea 
was by pack mules across the plains and over the mountains. But now San 
Luis Potosi has greater facilities and becomes a railroad center, the Mexican 
National Railroad leading north and south, and the Central westward to the 
main line and east to the Gulf of IMexico at Tampico. The stations of both 
roads are near the city's center, adjoining one of the principal plazas — a fea- 
ture not common in Mexico, nearly all the stations being more or less dis- 



247 



tant, but, as at San Luis Potosi also, with street-car connections to the hotels 
and plazas. 

San Luis is noted for the cleanliness of its streets, and the bright fresh 
look of its houses, which is looked after by the City Fathers. An ordinance 
prevents the citizens from becoming negligent as to the appearance of their 
dwellings, and they must be kept in order at all times. It is pleasant to 
walk through these streets, and through the plazas and plazuelas, of which 
there are many, with their trees and flowers, fountains and pagodas, where 
there is music in the evenings, and where the people do congregate. And 
there's many an open doorway that shows the pretty patios, with their 
miniature gardens filled with flowers fountains and singing birds, and these 




A FOUNTAIN OF SAN LUIS POTOSI. 

go to tell that the brightness and freshness of a San Luis Potosi house is 
not all on the outside. The markets and market places, nearby the hotels, 
are to be included in the walks about town, and are intensely interesting, 
as all Mexican markets are. The State Capitol, the Library and Museum, 
with nearly 100,000 volumes, El Instituto (the State College), the Alhondiga 
and the Lonja Mercantil, are the prominent places of the city to be visited, 
and are all buildings above the average in every way. Street-car rides may 
be made to Guadalupe and Tequisquiapan, the Baths of La Soledad, to Ax- 
cala and Santiago, the cars starting from the main plaza; the fares are from 
five to twenty-five cents, according to the distance traveled. In the rainy 
season, as an additional attraction, the street cars carry signs conveying the 



248 

information that there is water in the river. Good carriages may be had 
at the railway stations, or on the plaza, at from fifty cents to a dollar per 
hour. The churches are more than usually interesting, and are, for the most 
part, fine examples of the prevailing styles of architecture — are rich in na- 
tive decorative art, in carvings, paintings and pictures. 

The Cathedral, formerly the parish church, is on the Plaza Mayor, a 
really fine building, with ambitious to.wers built of stone; the pillars and altars 
are also of cut stone and the sumptuous decorations, a triumph' of art, were 
made under the direction of Bishop Montes de Oca, 1890-98; the Bishop's 
Palace, adjoining the Cathedral, is one of the finest in the land; one of the 
windows opens on to a gallery which overlooks the interior of the great 
church. The See of San Luis Potosi was not promulgated till 1854, though 
the first church was founded in 1583. 

The two tall towers of red stone seen from the west windows of the cars, 
just south of the city, are those of the Church of Guadalupe, standing high 
above the plain and the surrounding trees, and may be seen for miles up and 
down the road, an imposing landmark, that shows where the city is, long be- 
fore it can be seen. 

In the fa9ade of the church is a fine clock, presented by the King of Spain, 
in return for the gift of the largest single piece of silver ore ever taken 
from a mine. The church is well worth a visit, which may best be made by 
a carriage drive out the Paseo, passing the markets, the fountains, with their 
scores of quaintly costumed water-carriers, with queer wheelbarrows, carry- 
ing from one to three earthen jugs, the barracks and the penitentiary — a 
somewhat dusty road, but an interesting drive, with much to see. 

In the Church of El Carmen are some especially fine paintings, illustra- 
tive of the saints — both native and foreign — if saints may be so designated. On 
the door is written in Spanish the words which say, "who asks here shall re- 
ceive, who seeks shall find, and who knocks it shall be opened." The other 
churches are Merced, San Agustin and San Francisco; one never tires of 
the churches of jMexico, and cannot tire of these. 

They are a thrifty people of San Luis Potosi, and the stores and shops 
attest the fact. Every one has a "this-is-my-busy-day" look; the dealers are 
intent on business, and the customers, in crowds, drive sharp bargains. The 
gold and silver embroidery of the native is a pretty souvenir to buy; it is in 
the shape of slippers and pieces for ornament, that may be bought at vary- 
ing prices, according as the work is more or less elaborate. Pottery, feather 
and palm work may also be found. As I have said. San Luis Potosi is a 
railroad center. There is a frequent train service, and the stop may be long 
or short, going south to the City, north to the United States, east to Tam- 
pico or west to Aguas Calientes. 

San Luis Potosi is reached by the ]\Iexican National and iNIexican Central 
Railways. The distance from the City of IMexico is 327 miles. 

San Miguel de Alletide. A picturesquely pretty city, that is set upon 
San Me-gil' de Al-yen'-de a hill and cannot be hid, is San Miguel de 
Allende, where its rugged streets, and gardens terraced on the steep sides 
of the enchanted Cerro de Moctezuma, look down over the valley of Laja 
and to the blue hills far beyond. The ride of a mile from the railway, 
in the old-time coaches, is an interesting one, leading over a hill and inter- 
vening valley, where an ancient bridge of crumbling arches crosses a stream 
of clear, sparkling water, and enters the quaint old town that lies spread out 
on the hillside above; then, with a zigzag course, it is a climb to a plaza 
that one has no hint or suspicion of, it is such a pretty one, till the coach 
pulls up in front of the hotel that faces it, and whose casement windows look 



249 



out over the prettiest of evergreen trees. The hotel is a surprise as well, 
and was once the palatial home of a wealthy and pious man, Sefior Don 
Manuel Tomas de la Canal, and his wife, who donated the very beautiful 
chapel of the Casa de Loreto, a chapel that is a very poem of color and 
carving. If architecture be frozen music, then this gem is a dulcet melody, 
where there is a delicious warmth in its very congealing. But to go back 
to the hotel again, the image of the Virgin of Loreto over the door was 
placed there through the reverence of the family, Canal, when it was their 
home. 

The very beautiful Gothic church on the plaza, the only one of its kind 
in Mexico, was the work of a native architect, who knew not the process 
of "blue prints," and drew his plans with a stick in the sand; these were the 
only guides for the builders to work by. The original church was com- 
pleted nearly a hundred years ago, and the interior, with the exception of a 
renovation in 1842-3, remains the same, only the facade and the beautiful 
Gothic towers being 
new; this is the 
parish church. The 
others are San Ra- 
fael, adjoining the 
Parroquia, in which 
there are some 
strange statuary and 
paintings, and at- 
tached to this church 
is the Casa de Loreto, 
one of the most beau- 
tiful things in Mexico 
in carvings, gildings 
and glazed tiles, pre- 
sented by Sefior 
Canal in 1635. The 
names of the other 
churches worth visit- 
ing are the Concep- 
cion, San Francisco, 
Nuestra Sefiora de la 
Soledad and the 
Chapel of Calvario, at the nopal cactus. 

the top of a steep hill, which the wickedest sinners approach on their knees, 
stopping at the fourteen stations of the cross, on the hillside, to pray. 

San Miguel has an important place in the history of the country. The 
patriot, Ignacio Allende, was born here, to which fact is due the addition of 
Allende to the name of the town. About a dozen miles distant, to the north, 
is the village and Santuario de Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco, founded in 
1748, famous as the place whence Hidalgo took the banner of the Virgin of 
Guadalupe that became the standard of Independence, and, with Allende, 
carried it to San Miguel, where the Queen's regiment joined the insurgent 
forces, which became a victorious patriot army. The visit to San Miguel is 
not complete without an excursion to Atotonilco. San Miguel was founded 
in 1560, though the natives claim a foundation by Fray Juan de San Miguel 
in 1542 in the building of the little church about three miles westward. 

In the southern part of the city and high up on the hill are some very 
beautiful gardens, laid in pretty terraces of flowers, watered by a hundred lit- 




250 



tie cascades of clear water, that come down from the springs still higher 
up on the cerro, where the baths are — delightful baths, where the water 
comes pouring from under the rocks and into the baths, fresh and pure, 
accommodatingly warm in winter and cool in summer. To get there one 
may ride, but the carriage rattles over some very stony streets, and although 
it is a climb, I would suggest to walk. Leave the plaza, walk one square up 
the hill, turn to the right one square, then another up and again to the right, 
till you come to the gardens. St^reet cars from the station to the Plaza. 

San iMjiguel is in the State 
of Guanajuato, on the j\Iex- 
ican National Railroad, 218 
miles from the city. 

Sayula. Is a city of 
Sah-yu-la 8,819 inhabi- 
tants, on the Paciiic division 
of the j\Iexican Central 
Railway, in the center of 
a rich mining district, 
surrounded by fertile fields, 
85 miles from Guadalajara. 
Altitude of Sayula is 4,674 
feet. 

Silao. S i 1 a o was 
See-low' founded in the 
year 1553, by Don Fran- 
cisco Cervantes Rendon, 
but was not pronounced a 
city till 1861. It is in the 
midst of a fertile valley, 
close to the silver hills of 
Guanajuato. The comple- 
tion of the railway, the es- 
tablishment of shops, and 
the building of the branch 
to Guanajuato, enhanced 
the importance of the place 
and caused a wakening 
from the three hundred 
years' nap, from the settle- 
ment to the incorporation 
of the city. It is worth the 
while to wander through 
the narrow streets. The 
Plaza Mayor is not far from 
GOTHIC TOWER--SAN MIGUEL. the Station. Santiago, com- 

pleted in 1728, is the parish church. It has a particularly pretty tower, tall and 
slender. The Church of El Senor de la Vera Cruz contains a curious figure oi 
the Christ in papier mache. antedating the conquest of Spain by the Moors. It 
was presented to the Indians by the missionaries. The Santuario del Padre 
Jesus was built in 1798. The only other church of importance is San Nicolas. 
Silao is in the State of Guanajuato, on the Mexican Central Railway, 238 
miles from the City of Mexico, and fifteen miles from Guanajuato, by branch 
road. 




251 

Tattipiwu. In the tropical tierra caliente^ Tampico lies on the GuH 
Tam-pee'-ko shore, at the mouth of the Rio Panuco, which is a truly noble 
find great river, in which the navies of the world might ride. Indeed, Tam- 
pico is the rival of Vera Cruz, as the chief seaport on the east coast of Mex- 
ico, and, with the completed jetties and the deep rivers, the great merchant 
ships may make fast to the piers, to receive and discharge their cargoes. 
The rivers empyting here are navigable for some two hundred miles into the 
interior, where the scenery is rich in tropic beauty. About ten miles west 
of Tampico there are the ruins of an ancient city, a relic of the Aztecs, or 
some other race of the pre-Cortez days. There is a considerable hill and 




AT TAMPICO. 

the remains of embankments and other earthworks, together with a large, 
rudely sculptured stone, and a number of pyramidal mounds, excellently pre- 
served by a shell of rectangular stone slabs; the ruins extend for several miles, 
and a populous city must once have occupied the site. 

The chief sport at Tampico is tarpon fishing. There are millions of the 
"Silver King" in the Panuco River and between the jetties, so that no long 
sailing or rowing is necessary to reach the good places — they are right ihere 
in front of the city, above and below. 

Tackle and boats may be obtained in Tampico and good guides to take you 
out where the fish are, and you may see them disporting, leaping from the waters 
long before you are ready for business. Arrangements may be made for the 
preparation of your fish for the taxidermist. 



252 




Just beyond Tamos, the Tamcsi, another large river, 
IS crossed by a long and substantial drawbridge, at its 
junction with the Panuco. Both streams are navigated 
by steamboats into the interior, and they are well worth 
the while of the voyage, the scenery being particularly 
fine. At Tampico the station is close to the water, 
where the view is enhvened by the various craft lying 
at the wharves and anchored in the stream — steamships, 
schooners, brigs, river steamers, tugs, lighters, etc. — a 
respectable fleet altogether, and but an earnest of what 
will be seen here in the future, Tampico is an attrac- 
tive looking place, with an architectural appearance 
quite different from what may be seen elsewhere in 
Mexico. It seems a combination of New Orleans with a distinctively Spanish 
style. The buildings mostly have pitched roofs, and wood is more commonly 
employed in construction than elsewhere in Mexico, though the walls are 
chiefly of massive masonry. The houses of many colors have wooden verandas 
along their fronts, at each story, in the style common in the southern states of 
our country. A large part of the city stands on a bluff, which rises from near 
the river to a height of perhaps twenty to fifty feet or more, and at the end of 
two of the streets broad stone steps descend to the water front. 

On the river front is the most picturesque market, with its tents and scores 
of white umbrellas. Near it is the Plaza, a very busy Plaza it is, too, with the 
coming and going streets cars, drays and trucks. The river at Tampico is i,8oo 
feet wide, and has an average breadth of 800 feet for several miles above its 
mouth, the minimum depth is thirty 
feet. The rise and fall of the tide is so 
slight — only about eighteen mches — that 
there is no inflowing current, and, with 
the construction of the jetties, there is a 
constant out-going scour across the bar. 
For the greater part of the way the 
river banks are low and marshy, but on 
the right shore, two or three miles be- 
low the town, there is a line of high, 
rocky bluffs, that sometime will prob- 
ably be in demand as a place of sum- 
mer residence, with their fine view of the 
sea and sweep of breeze from the Gulf, 
which, blowing soft and free for most 
of the time, makes the air agreeably re- 
freshing. To reach Tampico from the 
interior, change cars on the main line 
of the Central at Aguas Calientes, and 
on the National at San Luis P9tosi, or 
proceed, via the Monterey division of 
the Mexican Central Railway from 
Monterey on the National road. 
Tampico is a regular port of the 
Ward Line, and other steamer lines from 
all parts of the world are attracted 
hither by the fine harbor, made by the 
completion of the jetties, two long arms 
of stone walls extending out into the 









^B^^Mk-^ 




IjHI 




■^^^B 




"' 



TARPON FISHING, TAMPICO. 



253 

&ea, more than a thousand feet, and one of the most important improve- 
ments of the age. 

The village at the jetties is called La Barra (the bar); there is one of the 
finest beaches in the world and a magnificently rolling surf that renders the 
bathing fine, and the temperature is such that it may be enjoyed as well as 
summer days. Frequent trains run on regular schedules between Tampico and 
La Barra. 

Texcoco. Texcoco was the ancient capital of the great Netzahualcoyotl, 

Tez-co'-co and, in 1431, was the rival of Tenochtitlan, now the City of 
Mexico. At that time Texcoco might have been called the Athens of the 
jwestern world, as Tenochtitlan was its Rome. 

I After the defeat of the Dismal Night and his march around the northern 
ishores of the lakes Cortez came from Tlaxcala and Cholula to Texcoco, and 
brought v/ith him the bergantines across the mountains, put them together 
on the shores of the lake, and prepared to take his army to lay siege to 
the capital of Montezuma. The Tlaxcalans, already his allies, the Cholulans 
destroyed by massacre, he found the people of Texcoco in the throes of 
dissension and civil war, and there was naught in the way of his march to 
Tenochtitlan. The base of operations was at Texcoco, and here, later, Cor- 
tez made his abode while under 
a royal exile from the City of 
Mexico, and here for some years 
his bones were buried. In the 
royal palace of Netzahualcoyotl, at 
Texcoco, was a courtyard, on the 
opposite side of which were two 
halls of justice. In the principal 
one, called the "Tribunal of God," 
was a throne of pure gold, inlaid 
with turquoise and other precious 
stones. On a stool in front was 
placed a human skull and crowned 
with an immense emerald of a 
pyramidal form, and surmounted at la barra. 

by an aigrette of brilliant plumes and precious stones. The skull was laid 
on a heap of military weapons, shields, quivers, bows and arrows. The 
walls were hung with tapestry, made of the hair of different wild animals 
of rich and various colors, festooned by gold rings and embroidered with 
figures of birds and flowers. Above the throne was a canopy of variegated 
plumage, from the center of which shot forth resplendent rays of gold and 
jewels. The other tribunal, called "the king's," was also surrounded by a 
gorgeous canopy of feathers, on which emblazoned the royal arms. 

Texcoco is a pretty little town, with narrow streets, shaded by orange trees, 
centering on a plaza, where there is a bust of Netzahualcoyotl. On a corner 
south of the plaza is a fountain surmounted by a statue of Hercules, pre- 
sented by Sefior Ruperto Jaspeado. The old Church of San Francisco, founded 
by Fray Pedro de Gante, was the tomb of Cortez. There are many ruins 
and relics of the forgotten ages in and around Texcoco. In the south part 
are three pyramids, and in the north another. West of the town, about 
three miles, are the ruins of an ancient wall, near the old Church of Huixotla. 
About three miles east are the most beautiful gardens of the Molino de Flores 
(the mill of the flowers). Let the mind be disabused of anything like a flour 
mill, or a barn-like structure with dusty sides and roof. Heavy gates open 
through stone walls and admit to what seems the court of a mediaeval castle. 





254 




Tortuous stairways of stone lead to the 
castle, the summer home of the ancient 
family, Cervantes, who have owned this 
bit of another world for some centuries. 
Beyond the gates, a little farther, are the 
gardens that might have been a part of 
Eden. There are grottoes and cascades, 
and a chapel that is also the tomb of 
the Cervantes, with sepulchres cut in the 
solid rock. Near by is the "laughing 
hill," Tetzcotzinco, the favorite resort 
of Netzahualcoyotl. There are terraced 
walks, and stairways winding around the 
hill. A basin in the rock has been called 
Montezuma's bath. It was probably a 
distributing reservoir to the gardens be- 
low. There are some wonderful ex- 
amples of native engineering near the 
"laughing hill," where the hills are con- 
nected across the valleys by embank- 
ments, in some places fifty feet high, on 
the top of which was built an aqueduct 
about two feet wide, with a conduit 
about a foot in width. In all it was 
twelve or fifteen miles in length, and 
much of it yet remains in a perfect state 
of preservation. Three miles west is the 
Hacienda de Chapingo, belonging to the 
estate of the late ex-president, General 
Gonzales, where, when the cares of 
State bore burdensome on his broad 
shoulders, he retired and lived luxu- 
riously in Oriental ease. The Hacien- 
da is a mass of gorgeous color of 
barbaric hues, varied as the rainbow. 
Seen from the windows on the north 
and east sides of the train. 

Texcoco is in the 
on the Interoceanic 
miles from the City. 

Tlaxcala. The very name is synony- 

Tlaz-cal'-a mous with antiquity and 
reminiscent of Cortez and his indomitable 
band of adventurers. It is one of the 
most interesting places in all ]\[exico, 
both for the beauty of its location and 
its historic associations. 

On leaving the train at the little sta- 
tion of Santa Ana, the traveler will 
find two horse cars at the station, first 
and second class respectively. From 
Santa Ana to Tlaxcala is about 6 miles, 
through beautiful woods or through 



State of Mexico, 
Railway, twenty 



TOWER OF TLAXCALA. 



255 

cultivated fields, the hedges on either side of the road covered with wild flow- 
ers, fining the air with perfume. The route is through the quaint little town 
of San Pablo Apetitlan; thence across the river and past the Church of San 
Esteban. To the west is a magnificent view of the two mighty volcanoes 
of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, their summits crowned with eternal snows, 
dazzlingly white and glistening in the sunlight; to the east may be seen the 
lofty and beautiful "Malintzi," — the whole forming a picture perhaps un- 
equaled on this continent, or in the world. At last, after a ride of about 
forty-five minutes, the town of Tlaxcala is reached and the car stops in 
the queer little plaza. 

Tlaxcala is situated in a valley, with hills entirely surrounding it, but we 
read that at the time of the conquest, when Tlaxcala boasted 300,000 instead 
of 4,000 inhabitants, as now, the town was built on the hills, the valley be- 
ing reserved for agricultural purposes, and it is probable that from this fact it 
takes its name, which means "Land of Bread." 

The museum is never "open" to the public, for the reason, presumably, 
that it is only tourists who care to visit it, but it is a very easy matter to 
obtain admission. The visitor should call at the Municipal Palace (a build- 
ing which dates back to the Spanish conquest), situated on the Plaza, and 
one of the obliging officials will send with you a "wc^'o" or servant, with 
the keys of the museum which is situated on the next 
street. Before leaving, however, he will naturally ex- 
pect that you will wish to see the Council Room, and 
if the vistior is not awed on being admitted to this 
celebrated chamber, he will, at least, be interested 
in the pictures which adorn its walls. These are 
copies of the original pictures of the great Tlaxcalan 
chieftains who allied themselves with Cortez, namely: 
Lorenzo Mazihcatzin, Chief of Ocotetulco; Gonzalo 
Tlahuexolotzin, Chief of Tepeticpac; Bartholome 
Zitlalpopoca, Chief of Quiahuiztlan, and Vicente 
Xicohtencatl, Chief of Tizatlan. The first name of 
each is the "Christian" name, given to them by the 
Spaniards when they were baptized, which was in the 
year 1520. The Museum contains a most interest- 
ing collection of idols and of Tlaxcalan pot- 
tery, found at various times in the town and surrounding country, but 
that which the visitor will most wish to see is the "Banner of Cortez," 
as it is usually called, but to be more correct, the banner which Cortez pre- 
sented to the Tlaxcalans. It is kept in a glass case and is in an excellent 
state of preservation. In the next case are the silken gowns which the 
chieftains wore when baptized, and the embroidered vestments of the priests. 
These are in such a perfect condition that it is hard to believe they are nearly 
400 years old; they are an eloquent memorial to the skill of their makers. 
Here, too, are more pictures representing the famous four chieftains, as 
well as old plans and rnaps of Tlaxcala. 

The Church of San Francisco is the oldest in America. Its foundations^ 
were commenced in the year 1521, the same year that the conquest of Mexico 
was completed. Here everything is antique; the very chairs used by the 
good fathers, at the present day, look as if they might be a hundred years 
old. In the chapel of the Tercer Orden is an enormous font, the actual 
font in vvhich were baptized the four chieftains whose portraits and garments 
are in the Museum. On the other side of the chapel is an old pulpit, the 
tablet informing us that from it was preached the Christian gospel, for the 




256 

first time "in this new world." The church is situated on the slope of a 
hill, and is approached by a paved way leading up from the queer old mar- 
ket place, where, if you loiter a while, you will hear as much Indian spoken 
as Spanish. The men and women sit on the ground beside their wares, laugh- 
ing and chatting among themselves in the Aztec language. You will find, 
however, that they talk Spanish perfectly, if you wish to buy any of the 
luscious fruits or other commodities displayed. 

The paved way leading up from the market place to the church passes 
under an old archway which connects the bell tower with the building which 
was formerly the convent, but now used by the government as the barracks. 
Facing the church and the barracks is a paved court-yard, which extends 
about one hundred and fifty feet to the edge of the hill, the side fronting the 




BULL RING, TLAXCALA. 

cliflf being protected by a low wall. Directly under this, about fifty or sixty 
feet beneath, is the "bull ring," affording the soldiers (or at least the officers) 
of the barracks an excellent place from which to view the corrida without 
payment. The "Xicotencatl" Theatre is opposite the San Carlos Hotel, but 
it looks as if it had not been open for years. It is a walk of about fifteen 
minutes to the famous Santuario de Ocotlan, built on a hill overlooking 
TIaxcala. 

This church is built to commemorate the miraculous appearance of the 
blessed Virgin of Ocotlan to the Indian Juan Diego, the legend being almost 
the same as that connected with the yet more famous shrine of Guadaluoe, 
near Mexico City. The church is a very fine building, with two very lofty 
towers. The interior is splendidly decorated, the high altar especially being 
a perfect marvel of wood carving. 

Before arriving at the church you will probably notice the two curious 
barrel-shaped structures, about ten feet high, in the middle of the road. 
These are called "cuitacomatis" and are used for storing corn, preserved safely 



257 

from rats and mice. It speaks well for the honesty of the little village that 
the owners do not seem to fear any pilfering by their neighbors, for the 
"cuitacomatis" are built in the roadway, opposite the homes of their owners, 
and are only protected at the top by a wooden cover, well thatched to pre- 
vent the rain entering. 

The view from the churchyard of Ocotlan is most beautiful. From it 
can be seen the three mountains, Popocatepetl, Ixtaccihuatl and Malintzi. Im- 
mediately below is the town of Tlaxcala, and a little beyond is the river, 
which can be seen for miles, winding its way down the valley of Atoyac. 
Across the river, which is spanned by a light iron bridge of modern make, 
a little way from the main channel, the river has cut its way through the rocks, 
forming a deep canon, and' in one place it has forced its path underneath 
the rocks, leaving them overhanging, and forming a Natural Bridge. 

Tlaxcala is near the station of Santa Ana, on the branch line of the Mexican 
Railway from Apizaco to Puebla. It is the capital of the State of Tlaxcala. 
The population is 4,000; its altitude is higher than the City of Mexico — 7,506 
feet above the sea. 

Tolttca. To go over the hills to Toluca is one of the things to do in 

To-ioo'-ca Mexico. No matter by what route one may have arrived at 
the capital, one must go to Toluca. The going there is the chief charm 
of the three-hour excursion. If you take an afternoon train from the city, 
you will have the sun behind the Sierra Madres; while the train climbs the 
eastern slope, creeping along in the darkening shadows, there is still a flood 
of sunlight over the plain, glistening on the towers of the distant city and the 
lakes beyond, and, above all, whitening still more the snows on Popocatepetl 
and Ixtaccihuatl — a picture dazzling and grandly, sublimely beautiful. It 
may be that the sun has dropped behind the further western hills ere you 
turn the crest of these, and there is a softening twilight over the Toluca Val- 
ley; but when the return is made on a morning train, the sun is again be- 
hind the Madres, this time in the east, making another panorama equally 
beautiful, with Ocoyacac under the precipice, a thousand feet down, and the 
River Lerma, stringing a silver line way across the plain, and lost from 
sight beyond the hills. On the farther side is Toluca, and, beyond the city, 
the Nevada de Toluca, the volcano, once called Xinantecatl. Thus, in a little 
journey of three hours, are two of the world's grandest views, worth a longer 
journey to see. 

Street cars from the station run through the Calle Independencia, past the 
statue of Hidalgo, to the plaza and near the hotels. 

That Toluca is a marvelously clean city is discovered in the shortest stay; 
the houses look bright and new, although it is one of the oldest cities in the 
country, and the buildings are larger and finer than usual. The State build- 
ings — this is the capital of the State of Mexico — erected on the spot where 
once stood the house of Don Martin Cortez, son of the conqueror, are the 
finest in the Republic, and tRe market, with its pillars of Pompeiian colors, 
is a thing of beauty. It is not far to the hot country, and all the tropical 
fruits and flowers are to be found. In the portales one may find laces, "drawn 
work," pottery and a thousand things for souvenir purchasers. 

The residence of a rich hacendado is shown, who, in his time, was a 
great patron of the bull-ring, and furnished from his hacienda many a bravo 
ioro, till they became famous in every ring, and his colors, dangling from a 
grizzly neck, brought loud huzzas when the animal bounded into the arena. 
One bull fought his way back to life and liberty. The picadors could not 
hold him off, and he killed their horses; the banderilleros, if they could place 
their darts in his shoulders, had them shaken out in his rage, and the mata- 



258 



dores were hissed and hissed, because they could not kill him. The old hacendado 
looked on with delight, and plead with the president not to allow him to be 
lassoed and ''assassinated," as he 
said. The wish was granted, and 
the bull was driven back to the 
toril and returned to the hacienda 
to live some happy years, and 
when, at a green old age, he died 
in peace, surrounded by a numer- 
ous and belligerent progeny, his 
body was interred minus the skin, 
which was stufifed and hung up 
for ornament in his master's ban- 
quet hall. The view from the hill, 
just back of the city, is a pretty 
one, but from the top of the vol- 
cano it is a grand one, reaching 
from the Gulf to the Pacific. The 
height, as estimated by Humboldt, 
is 15,156 feet above sea level. The 
ascent and return requires two 
days, though it is not a difficult 
or perilous one. The top is not 
more than ten feet wide, and the 
crater contains a fathomless lake 
with a whirlpool in the center. 
Out through the haciendas there 
are good roads, with an automo- 
bile road to the City of Mexico. 
The valley and site of the city of 
Toluca was within the grant of 
Charles V to Cortez as the 
Marquis of the Valley, and a set- 
tlement was made here in 1530, 
but not till 1677 was Toluca made 
a city. The Church of San Fran- 
cisco was founded in 1585. An 
old passageway leading from a 
side street has an inscription tell- 
ing that this arch is retained as a 
part of the first Catholic church 
in Toluca. 

The parish church was built in 
1585. The Church of Xuestra 
Senora del Carmen contains a fine 
picture of the Virgin, and the 
dead Christ and what is probably 
the first organ made in America. 
Near the city, about two miles 
west, is the Church of Xuestra 
Seiiora de Tccajic, containing a 
miraculous image of the Vir- 
gin, on coarse cloth, painted 
more than two hundred years a busy day in toluca. 




259 

ago, and held in much veneration by the Indians. Toluca is the capital of the 
State of Mexico, on the Mexican National Railroad, forty-five miles from the 
City; elevation, 8,617 feet above the sea; population, 25,000. 
Torreoti. Is the very newest city in Mexico, twenty years ago only a pros- 
Tor-re-own' pective railroad crossing, now a thriving city, the junction of two 
important systems, the Mexican Central and International, with electric cars, 
cotton mills, foundries, factories, breweries, ice plant, but no domed churches 
and no legends. Population 15,000. Altitude 3739- Distance from the City of 
Mexico 705 miles. 

Tula. It is but two hours from the capital of modern Mexico to the 
Too'-la center of the Toltec Empire, where the ruins of the oldest capi- 
tal of the continent lie half buried in the sands, blown over them in the 1,200 
years since their building — but two hours from ihe great houses of the nine- 
teenth century to the casas grandes of the seventh. Tula was the capital of 
the Toltecs, founded about the year 638. After the migration of this people from 
the north, they halted just beyond the plain of Mexico, and, on the banks 
of the little river, builded a great city, that became the rival of Tenochtitlan 
and Texcoco. The place was a "place of reeds," and they called the city 
Tula, which is also Tollan, and was known by other names, Tlalpallan and 
Huehuetlalpallan, to the ancient dwellers in the land. In these degen- 
erate days, the mighty capital is a little railway junction village, a most pretty 
one withal, with antiquities a thousand years younger than the casas grandes, 
but are older than our oldest walls. The ruins of the ancient temples of the 
Toltecs are called the casas grandes. They are on the Cerro de Tesoro, a 
hill just beyond the river, reached by a walk of a mile, through a broad way 
shaded by great trees, over an old stone bridge, of Spanish make, and back, 
on the other bank of the river, to a point just opposite the town. There, 
almost buried and without walls, are the casas grandes. The rooms are laid 
in terraces, one above the other, in hewn stone and hard cement, and con- 
nected with stairways. Some ruined walls, of the style of those around the 
church in the village, evidently of Spanish make, are near the ruins. 

In the plaza of Tula are some of the Toltecan relics, and the baptismal 
font in the church is of the same origin ; many of the houses of the town have 
Toltec carvings hung up for ornament. 

The Church at San Jose, in partial ruins, was founded in 1553, and com- 
pleted in 1561. In the primitive days of its building, it was' church and fort- 
ress combined, and the very thick walls were constructed with that view, as 
are shown by the battlements on the roof, on the walls, and on the walls of 
the old church near the casas grandes. The church is 190 feet long, 83 feet 
high, with a tower of 125 feet, all built of stone, roughly cut. The convent, 
built in 1585, is now used as a cavalry barrack and stables. 

The pretty little town of Tula — and it is a very delightful one — can be made 
the object of a day's outing from the City of Mexico, taking the morning 
train out, and returning in the afternoon. It is on the line of the Mexican 
Central Railway, in the State of Hidalgo, at the junction of the Pachuca branch, 
fifty miles from the City, at an altitude of 6,658 feet above the sea. 

Urttapan. The present terminus of the Pacific division of the National 

Oo-ru-ap'-an Railroad of Mexico is one of the most picturesque and 
quaintest of the semi-tropics, surrounded by forests and encircled by rushing 
mountain streams. Uruapan is unique, entirely different from her sister cities. 
The red-tiled, high-pitched roofs lend color to the picture and projecting eaves 
drop a grateful shade over the narrow sidewalks of the cobble-paved streets 
that end in primeval forests where the Falls of Tzararacua are. 



260 

The ride over the western division of the National is through the lake region 
and is particularly picturesque between Morelia, Patzcuaro and Uruapan — "the 
loops" near the latter city show some wonderful feats of engineering — in an air 
line distance of 2,^'/2) feet; the fall is 426 feet, requiring curvatures of track 
covering nearly three miles. 

The coffee of Uruapan is pronounced the best in the world and the fruits are 
of the finest flavor of any in Mexico. The climate is superb and healthfulness 
attends upon pure air and fine water. 

While far remote from the scene of conflict Uruapan did not escape all the 
horrors of war — two patriots were, by order of Maximilian, executed in the 




IN VERA CRUZ. 

plaza, now called in their honor La Plaza de las Inmortales, where has been 
erected a memorial, in a marble monument with bronze busts of the heroes. 

The industrial interests are in coffee, fruits, mills, factories and lumber; lum- 
ber is cheaper than stone or adobe, so that many of the houses and portales 
are of wood. Uruapan is 320 miles from the Capital. Population 9,859. Alti- 
tude 5,576. 

Vera Cruz. Since the landing of Grijalva, in 1518, Vera Cruz has been 

Ver-a Crooz' the chief seaport of ]\lexico. Here, also, landed Cortez, 
April 21, 1519, on Good Friday. For this, and the reputed richness of the 
land in gold, the place was named Villa Rica de la Santa Vera Cruz (the 



261 

rich city of the holy true cross). There was no harbor for the safe riding 
of the vessels left behind, and after the conqueror had established himself in 
the interior, he sent an expedition down the coast and found the harbor of 
Coatzacoalcos, the present terminus of the Tehuantepec Route, on the Gulf. 
But this did not afifect the importance of Vera Cruz. It was so much nearer 
the richer districts of the interior, that the city has remained the seaport of 
Mexico for nearly four hundred years. Before the completion of the jetties 
or breakwater ships dropped anchor just below the island of San Juan de 
Ulua, and the landing was made by lighter and small boats, which was not 
included in the ship's fare. The prices of the landing varied with the weather, 
from fifty cents in fair weather, to a dollar on stormy days. Now, with the 
new sea wall, ships are protected from the winds and seas and may discharge 
and receive cargoes direct from the pier. 

Vera Cruz may be done in a day. A walk about the streets and plazas, and 
along the Paseo, with its tall, waving palm trees, is all to interest; and to 
the church of the black Christ, where the image of the Savior is black; there 
is only one other like it, at Havana, or near that city. There is another thinq- 
that will attract the attention of the tourist at Vera Cruz, and that is the Street 
Cleaning Department. The employes work without salary, and find them- 
selves, and their thorough manner (but not their methods) are to be com- 
mended. Their only reward is the enforcement of a city ordinance which 
inflicts a five-dollar fine on the indiscreet and reckless citizen who should 
happen to kill one of them. The natives call these street cleaners zopilotes, 
but to the American they are just plain, everyday buzzards. I may mention 
here that Vera Cruz has an imitator, in this respect, in Charleston, S. C. But, 
altogether, Vera Cruz is to be visited to make the tour of Mexico complete. 
The island of San Juan de Ulua, a prison now, once a fort, was commenced 
in 1582 and finished about 1750, It has been occupied at different times — 
by the French, in 1838; by the Americans, in 1847; by the allied French, 
English and Spanish, in 1865; and was the seat of the Juarez Government 
during the War of the Reform. Excursions to Ulua and to La Isla de los 
Sacrificios, may be made. The hiring of boats for landing and for excursions 
should be made by contract always. A railroad runs down the coast to 
Medellin and Alvarado, that may be taken just for the ride and the novelty of it. 

The parish church, on the Plaza Mayor, was finished in 1734, and dedi- 
cated to Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion. The Church of San Francisco was 
founded in 1568. The tower is now a lighthouse, and the old convent con- 
tains the public library. The church was formerly supported by a levy on all 
ships coming into the port. The Churches of San Agustin and La Campania 
were restored after the great fire of 1619. 

On the island of San Juan de Ulua is a little chapel, dedicated to Nuestra 
Seiiora de la Escalera, in which offerings are made for the safety of sailors. 

Vera Cruz is reached from the interior by the Mexican and Interoceanic 
Railways. It is 263 miles from the City of Mexico, in the State of Vera Cruz. 
Yautepec. These little towns, down on the border of the tierra caliente, 
Ya-ow'-te-jec seem farther away from the world, as we know it, and farther 
behind in the centuries, than the towns of the hills, and when you are in 
Yautepec you are in another world and another century. The little town is 
nestled down in a valley that widens out, to the southward and west, into broad 
plains, where the sugar cane grows; to the northward, the hills rise, one above 
the other, and reach to Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. The cane fields come 
even to the city limits, and within them the narrow streets crook and turn 
curiously. The dull gray walls seem cheerless enough, but here and there a 
half-open gateway reveals the tropical gardens on their other side, and some 



262 



of the taller trees hang their golden fruit over their tops. You leave the 
station and the locomotive that is there, the only evidence that there is any 
other world but this lazy one you are just entering, as, in the novelty of it, you 
really forget the other, till the locomotive's whistle calls you back. A cross- 
topped tower, high over the low houses, will be a guide. Follow the streets that 
lead to it, and soon come to the plaza, which is also the alameda — a pretty 
little park with bright flowers and pretty trees, with a fountain under them, 
where the natives come, with great earthen jars, for the pure sparkling water 
that flows from it. Sit here on a stone bench; the inhabitants will come out 
and look at you. In the evening the band plays, and you will have an oppor- 
tunity to see the "four hundred" as they promenade. There is wealth and 
beaut}'- in the procession, such as it is not expected to see. At one end of the 
little park is a long table, covered with corn. "Ah, this is the market place," 
some one says, "a sort of produce exchange, and these are the samples of 
corn." When you return after supper you find that he had mistaken the class 
of traffic. A crowd of men, women and children are around the table. Each 
has a dingy-looking card on the table; the card has three rows of five pictures 
each. A man at the end of the table holds a bag, from which he draws smaller 
cards, that have corresponding pictures to those held by the players; he calls 

the names of the 
animals in the 
pictures, and the 
person having a 
similar one places 
a grain of corn 
on it, and anyone 
getting five 
markers in a row 
wins the game 
and the money 
paid for all the 
cards, less the 

percentage of the 

banker. It is much like a certain American game, here one man yells ''Com- 
pleto!" and all the others "el diablo." Just on the other side of the 
plaza a rambling stream runs over a rocky bed, almost dry now, but the waters, 
collected in pools, form a laundry place for Yautepec, presenting a picturesque 
scene. An old stone bridge, with a single arch, spans the stream for a path 
that leads to a convent, or priestly residence, whose gardens can be seen from 
the bridge in all their tropical luxuriance. In the graveyard are some crum- 
bling old tombs built in the walls of the church or in the adjoining panteon. 
At the north end of the village is a pretty little chapel, and near it the Plaza 
'de Toros. 

Yautepec is on the Alorelos division of the Interoceanic Railway, in the 
State of Morelos, ninety-eight miles from the City of Mexico. 

Zacatecas. The approach to Zacatecas from the north gives no hint of 
Zack-ah-tay'-cas any city being near. The train climbs the tortuous windings 
of the track to reach the summit of a hill that is 8.000 feet above the level of 
the sea. A tall tower-like chimney of a smelter that is seen, first on one side 
and then on the other, is the only evidence of civilization beyond the cars we 
ride in, and even at the station where the train stops there is little to indicate 
the existence of the great city that is in the barranca just beyond the hill, and 
under the one whose rocky crest is called La Bufa. It is after leaving the 
station, or on the approach from the south, that the passing passenger is 





263 

treated to one of the finest views in the world, if his seat be on the east side 
of the car. Away up the immense gulch, the flat-top houses, the domes and 
towers, seem to have slidden down from both the hills, till it is filled half 
way up, on either side, and straggling out the mouth of it, down on to the 
plain where Guadalupe is. And the road between Zacatecas and Guadalupe! 
where is there any like it? or these two cities — are there any, except in the 
Holy Land? And the passers up and down that road, and the streets of the 
city, in the enchantment that distance lends them! do they not bring back 
the Bible lessons of your younger days? There are, also, the veritable Pales- 
tinian asses laden for the city, or returning lazily over a road that seems as 




ZACATECAS. 

hard as that which leads to Jordan, and far beyond Guadalupe's towers is — 
not the Sea of Galilee, but Lake Pevernaldillo. And up the hill, toward 
the Bufa, is a rocky road, narrow as that which leads to righteousness, hedged 
with prickly thorns, that leads to the little Church of Los Remedios, founded 
in 1728, near the summit. Over this road, suffering devotees have crawled 
to do a penance. On the hill of La Bufa a battle was fought between the 
Juarez forces and, a revolutionary party, May 2, 1871, resulting in a victory 
for Juarez. 

The inevitable horse car dispels the Palestinic idea and it will amply 
repay you to leave the train and take a seat in one that will take you from 



264 



the station to the market plaza and to the hotels of Zacatecas. The city is easy 
of access — one just drops into town. The street cars leave the station, and, 
per force of gravity, roll into the city, as they do into the suburb of Guada- 
lupe. The mules work only half the time, but it is an up-hill business when 
they do work. The cars roll from the station to Zacatecas, or from the city 

to Guadalupe, but 
vice versa, they must 
be pulled up by main 
force. The coming 
^^ up is as hard as the 
"^H going down is easy. 
'M The mules walk 
^ leisurely down the 
hill to Guadalupe, 
without even the la- 
bor of carrying the 
harness, which is 
piled on the front 
platformi. The city is 
an interesting one, 
where some days may 
be passed in rambles 
up one hill and down 
the other. As you 
saw the city from the 
train, you could not 
believe there was 
room enough, and 
level enough for a 
park, but Zacatecas 
has two that are filled 
with flowers and 
fountains, and where, 
of course, the band 
plays in the evening, 
Sundays and feast 
days; in little nooks 
and shelves in the 
rocks are numberless 
p 1 a z uelas — beauty 
spots of ferns and 
flowers in rocky hill- 
sides. Zacatecas is a 
busy city, and the 
streets present quite 
a metropolitan ap- 
pearance, some of the 
FACADE OF CATHEDRAL, ZACATECAS. buildiugs reaching 

four stories. The State and Municipal palaces are impos- 
the average in Mexico. The churches to visit are Nuestra 
Sefiora de la Asuncion, with its richly carved fapade of brown stone, carry- 
ing life-size statues of Christ and the apostles, tiled dome and interior of white 
and gold; it once owned a font of silver that alone cost a fortune and was con- 
fiscated by the government. The church was founded in 1612, and is now, since 




three and 
ing above 



266 



1864, the cathedral. La Compafiia is the church of the Jesuits, begun in 17465 
and contains some very fine pictures. The others are San Francisco, 1567, and 
San Juan de Dios. It is probable that the oldest Presbyterian church building in 
the world is at Zacatecas; it was once the Church of San Agustin, founded 
in 1576, now devoted to Protestant uses, though a portion of the old convent 
is used as a hotel. 

But it is to Guadalupe that the church enthusiast takes his way, very early 
after his arrival at Zacatecas. It is four miles to Guadalupe. The cars have 
been drawn by the mules up the hill to the Plaza Villa Real, from whence they 
roll back to the market plaza of Guadalupe. W alk throug h this market, an d 
just beyond it is one of the .- _ 

most interesting churches in 
this country of churches. In 
front of the church is a pretty 
park of roses, well kept. The 
grand old church, with its 
tiled dome, is worthy of all the 
journey to see. The main altar 
has life-size figures represent- 
ing the Crucifixion. Behind 
there is a canvas painting rep- 
resenting the Hill of Calvary, 
with the Jews and Roman 
soldiery in the middle back- 
ground. These, with the fig- 
ures in front, produce a very 
startling effect. The church is 
always crowded with people, 
kneeling at the various altars 
and confessionals. On the 
right of the church is the old 
convent, filled with hundreds 
of curious paintings, illustrat- 
ing the lives and temptations 
of the saints — some of them 
going very much into detail. 
One fine picture, a gigantic 
San Cristobal, at the head of 
the staircase, is finely executed 
and the work of a master hand, 
painted by Juarez in 1722. The 
old church and convent was 

founded in 1707 by Fray An- high altar, cathedral of zacatecas. 

tonio Margil de Jesus; the principal pictures were painted in 1720 by Antonio 
de Torres; there is a fine San Jose by Ibarra. 

The Capilla de la Purisima, a splendid chapel, is a more recent addition to 
the old church; it was the gift of a maiden lady of great wealth, a few years 
ago, and cost many thousands of dollars. The floor is inlaid with hard woods 
of different colors. A superb altar is rich in gildings, silver and gold, wax 
figures, silk and satin hangings. The altar rail is of onyx and solid silver. 
The walls are finely frescoed, arched to a dome fifty feet above the floor. This 
is all new, but is the finest chapel in Mexico. 

Adjoining the convent is an orphan asyluin, founded by General Garcia de 
la Cadena in 1875, where the boys are taught the arts and sciences. 




266 

Silver was discovered in 1546 by Juan de Tolosa, and so rich were the 
mines that the places became a city in 1585 by decree of Philhp II., and from 
1548 to ISIO the product of the mines was nearly $100,000,000 ; since that tmie 
the output has not been so great. 

In 1835 the State of Zacatecas declared against the Dictator Santa Ana, 
and on the loth of a\Iay of that year Governor Don Francisco Garcia, with 
5,000 men, waited on the plains of Guadalupe for the coming of the army under 
Santa Ana. A great battle was fought the next morning, in which Garcia 
lost 2,000 killed and 2,700 prisoners, while Santa Ana's loss was only about 
a hundred; the victors entered the city, pillaged it and butchered many of its 
people. 

About thirty miles west of Zacatecas are the extensive ruins of a prehistoric 
city ; the Ruins of La Quemada consist of walls, pyramids, fallen columns, 
mounds and pavements, all of massive proportions ; some of the walls are 
eight feet thick and eighteen in height, and the columns nineteen feet in cir- 
cumference, in a citadel 250x200 feet ; although nothing is known of the origin 
of these temples, it is said by some writers that they are the remains of Chi- 
comostoc, a city of the Aztecs, built about the twelfth century, hence are 
probably 800 years old. The pyramid, according to Clavijero, was probably 
erected to Huitzilopochtli and supported a statue of that god which the ancient 
Mexicans carried with them in their travels. Zacatecas is on the Mexican 
Central Railway, 439 miles from the City of ^Mexico, and is the capital of the 
State of Zacatecas. 
Zapotlan. As usual in ]\Iexico, the town of Zapotlan is a mile or more 

Zap-ote-Ian from the station. 

The broad Plaza de Armas is a pretty one; portales long and arched on 
three sides ; on the other to the south the church of San Jose and the garden 
and church of El Corazon Sagrado de Jesus. The center of the Plaza is a 
beautiful garden filled with flowers and tropic trees ; some cedars closely 
cropped have grown so thick that they would turn the rain as effectually as 
an umbrella, which in fact they closely resemble; the impression is instanta- 
neous. The pagoda where the band plays is in the usual picturesque archi- 
tecture of Mexico, and the seats, prettily painted, are everywhere in the garden, 
so the journey from one to the other is not a long one, and the always weary peon 
can rest to his heart's content. 

The church of San Jose fronts the Plaza. There are two towers of cut stone, 
as in the handsome facade. The doors are in high archways, massive, and 
bear heavy brazen plates on which are engraven the names of the children 
of the city, whose contributions paid for their building. The inlaid floor 
of the nave is in squares of native hard woods, each with a brass plate bear- 
ing the name of the donor of each particular square, which, as the Padre 
told me, cost them from one to twenty dollars, as the generosity of the donor 
might be, or according to his fortune in this world's goods. 

On each side of the main altar arc two shrines of cut stone. The Gothic 
arches of the vaulted roof are more than sixty feet from the floor, producing 
a grand effect. Between San Jose and the church of El Corazon Sagrado de 
Jesus is a pretty garden with stone pillared arbors over which the vines have 
so thickly grown that the people may pass from one chapel to the other dry 
shod and dry headed though it may rain ever so hard. Here, in the evening 
particularly, the air is heavily laden with the perfume of tropic flowers. Back 
of the garden is the chapel of Terccr Orden and a school. In the church of 
El Corazon Sagrado de Jesus in a fine picture of San Jose that a kind old lady 
explained to mc was po^-^^issed of such miraculous powers that if I should 



267 

fall from the dome of the church it could bear me up and I would not be 
hurt. I took her word for it and did not try the experiment. 

In 1806 the old church was thrown down by an earthquake during High 
Mass and more than 2,000 people were killed. The surrounding houses were 
not injured. In evidence there is a stone taken from the adjoining house that 
was demolished a year ago which showed that the house was 108 years old, 
and hence could not have been thrown down by the earthquake which destroyed 
the church. 

In the upper part of the city, near the eastern hills, are a number of 
shrines of chapels built for the Indians and on land owned by them. One 
of them, the Capilla de la Platana, the Chapel of the Banana Garden, has a 
belfry on each side of the garden entrance now almost crumbling to decay, 
but still the rotten timbers hold the old bells fiom falling down. At the 
corner of the chapel is a dilapidated statue of San Cristobal that was origi- 
nally in front of the church destroyed by the earthquake. The statue was 
made in about six sections. A part of the trunk of the body is gone, and 
also the shoulders and the little child he bears, except one hand of the child 
and part of an arm of the saint. Despite the misfit caused by the missing 
parts the Indians have set up the statue and it is greatly venerated. In front 
of the Chapel of Todos Santos is a stone cross about eight feet high, cut in 
one piece. This chapel is in a corn patch and long ago abandoned. 

The Volcano of Colima and the Nevada de Colima, about twelve to fifteen 
miles distant, are in fine view from the plaza. They are in reality one 
mountain, but of two peaks and with two craters. The former is the only 
active volcano in Mexico ; volumes of smoke constantly pouring forth, and 
at night there is frequently a grand display of fire and molten lava. In 1818 
there was a violent eruption, covering the mountain sides with flowing lava. 
Here in Zapotlan the streets were knee-deep in ashes and a strong wind blowing 
north carried the ashes so far that they fell in Zacatecas, 200 miles away. The 
eruptions of fire and lava are irregular, and may occur any day. 

Zapotlan is on the Pacific division of the Mexican Central Railway, 102 miles 
from Guadalajara. Population 17,596. Altitude 5,130. 




ZAPOTLAN. 



268 




VOLCANO OF COLIMA. 




Railway Rides in Hexico. 

South over the Central. —When- 
ever there is a schedule that puts the train 
over the first two hundred miles south of the 
Rio Grande by night, take it ; no matter which 
route you travel by, there is nothing to see but 
chaparral and desolate looking hills, and first 
impressions would not be of the best if you 
traveled by day-train. There is just enough 
novelty in the little towns on the border, that 
are so oddly new and so old fashioned, to 
awaken an anticipation for more; it is all the 
better to sleep over it and dream of what may 
be to-morrow. I can safely say that these 
dreams, at least, will not go by contraries. 
When the first morning in Mexico comes, with 
a brighter sunshine than you ever saw before, 
you will be an early riser ; perhaps you will 
roll up the little curtain of your window, be- 
fore you leave your pillow, and hurry out for 
a hasty toilet, fearing that you may miss 
something — and you might, for the scenery be- 
gins very early in the morning, and this old, 
old country is all new "to you. The train is 
rolling along through a narrow valley, level as a billiard board, the veritable 
high table-lands we have read about, but never seen till now, lying between two 
close ranges of mountains, shrub-covered and crowned with the most entrancing 
cloud effects one imagines out of fairy land ; the soft, white heaps are tossed 
above some towering summit or rolled into a blue valley between. 

While we are looking skyward there is an entrancing view at our feet; 
here is a first glimpse of an hacienda. At the farther end of the plain a 
group of white buildings, a wide corral, fenced in with slight boughs, and a 
fringe of most exquisite green, along the margin of a fine line of clear water, 
completes a pretty picture. Out of the corral, on one side, comes an immense 
herd of cattle, at the other an equally immense herd of goats, black, brown 
and white. A group of Indian women are filling great red jars at a pool 
of water, and across the dry water-courses flocks of sheep wander, followed 
by their shepherds. It is truly another world than that of yesterday. 

By and by, between a gap in the deep red mountains, which wall up the 
narrow valley, there is a wonderful vista full of color, with another glint 

269 




270 



of another valley, and, far of¥, the mystical heights of some new range of 
hills which distance clothes with abundant majesty. The novelty never wears 
away. But this country is not all of deep valleys and lofty mountains; there 
are broad, spreading plains as well, yet, in all the land, in its length and 
breadth, the mountains are always in view. 

The railroads seem to come upon these Mexican towns unawares, and there 
is rarely a hint of them till w^e are at the station, and they are, with few 
exceptions, located a mile or more from the line of road. The first stop is 
at Chihuahua, made at the shops where the restaurant is located, and, until 
the train starts across the barranca there is nothing to be seen of the city, 
then the view is from the windows on the west side of the car. It is a good 

view of the city, with the tall 
towers of the Church of San 
Francisco standing high agamst 
the sky. While the train stops 
at the station just after crossing 
the bridge there is time to en- 
joy it. After leaving the sta- 
tion the better view is on the 
left, where the road to the 
mines of Santa Eulalia runs 
through the bills, and pretty 
soon the buildings and tall 
chimneys come to view, and just 
after leaving the station is the 
Cerro del Coronel on the right 
of the track. The road runs 
through a semi- lake region, 
passing through the valley of 
the Conchos and San Pedro. 
Near Santa Rosalia there are 
some hot springs, famous for 
their curative qualities. Jimenez 
is a city of some 10,000 people, 
the shipping point for ihe Par- 
ral mining district. A branch 
road runs from Jimenez to Par- 
ral and Allende. Escalon is the 
junction point of the Mexican 
ALTAR AT GUADALUPE, NEAR ZACATECAS. Northern Railway, running 

northeastward to the Sierre Mojada mining district, \'here is located one of the 
greatest carbonate camps in the world. Southward now, the roads runs along 
the western border of the great Bolson de Mapiir.i, to interpret, literally, a 
"pocket" in the mountains. This is the Laguna country, in the rainy season al- 
most covered by water, and in the dry season it collects in ponds or larger 
lakes. Several rivers, notably the Nazas. flow into this Bolson, and unless there 
is an underground outlet somewhere, the water must escape only by evapora- 
tion, but so much is used in irrigation that only a small stream reaches the 
basin. 

East of the line about Conejos is a curious sulphur mountain, easily dis- 
tinguished by the stripes of the mineral. At Conejos is the junction of the 
Durango Central Railway. At Bennejillo connection for ]\rapimi Railroad and 
Mexican International. At Gomez Palacio take electric cars for Lerdo. Here is 
the rich cotton district of Lerdo, where the seed requires only to be planted once 




271 

in three or four years. Lerdo is seen from the windows on the right, and soon 
after leaving the station the track crosses the Nazas River on a fine steel bridge ; 
look up and down the river and see the dams and storage reservoirs for irriga- 
tion purposes. From Gomez Palacio a branch extends eastward via San Pedro 
to Monterey, and three miles south the main line of the Central crosses the 
Mexican International Railroad, with connections on the east for Eagle Pass, 
and on the west for Durango and for Saltillo via the Coahuila and Pacific Railway. 
South from Torreon there is a continual up-grade of track, and the moun- 
tains are closer than on the borders of the Bolson. Just below the station 
of Gutierrez the Tropic of Cancer is crossed, and the first place of miport- 
ance in the Torrid Zone is Fresnillo, once a great city before the overflow 
of the mines of Proafio. The city is about five miles from the road, and 
has now only about 20,000 people. 




AGUAS CALIENTES. 

Every hour of the journey, now, is one of increasing interest; still, as 
it is onward, it is upward, and its windings tortuous among the hills, where 
the scenery is grand, gloomy and peculiar. The climb is to reach the sum- 
mit of a hill whose altitude is greater than any on the road, except one, a 
little over 8,000 feet. The tall tower-like chimneys of a smelter, high above 
the track, are seen first on one side and then on the other, as the road bends 
in one horseshoe after another. This is the approach to Zacatecas, one of 
the greatest mining cities of the world. There is no view of the city in the 
approach from the north, nor even as the train stands at the station; but, 
as it moves off, take a seat on the left of the car, or, what is better, go to the 



272 

rear platform, for one of the finest views of the journey. The moment the 
wheels begin to roll, sharply down hill now, there is a full view of a city 
of 35,000 people, for all the world like one of Palestine, with its low, flat- 
topped houses and domed churches, two hundred feet below, spreading up 
and down the gulch and on the mountain side be3^ond, reaching down the val- 
ley with a straggling suburb, to Guadalupe, six miles away. The track winds 
around on the sides of the hills, passing directly over some mines and smelt- 
ers, keeping the city in view all the while. Up and down the road that runs 
along the valley are curiously costumed people, droves of donkeys laden with 
silver, carts and cars, goats and cattle on the hillsides, and a hundred things 
to see not seen anywhere else in the world. 

Leaving Zacatecas behind, under the shadow of the great Cerro de la 
Bufa, now below, in the valley, is Guadalupe, and far beyond is Lake Pever- 




BATHS, AGUAS CALIENTES. 

naldillo, whose waters seem to meet the sky at the horizon. Those are not 
monuments over the graves of fallen heroes that you have seen through this 
mining district; those white tombstone-like objects are landmarks to desig- 
nate the boundaries of an hacienda or a mining claim. 

The road enters a more agricultural district below Guadalupe, and runs 
through one valley after another down to Aguas Calientes, on the plain. 
The city is on the west side of the road. No general view of the city may 
be had, as it is on the same level with the track, and a forest of green trees 
hides the houses. There is plenty to be seen at the station. The main street 
of the city crosses the track just below it; the bath-houses are within a stone's 
throw, and the hot-water ditch, wherein is the public laundry and baths of 
the Lidians, crosses the track just at the end of the platform. From Aguas 
Calientes, or at Chicalote, nine miles above, the Tampico division connects 
with the main line of the Alexican Central. 

Onward, over the plains to the southward, it is still -down grade to the 



273 

barranca of Encarnacion, which the road crosses on a high iron bridge. Just 
under it, on the left side, is an irrigation reservoir. The station is just at 
the south end of the bridge, and a mile or two to the westward is the little 
town of La Encarnacion, with its towered Church of Candelaria, in view 
from the car wiiidows, and the white Campo Santo. Now the track winds 
about over some rocky hills, as far as Las Salas, and then down to the 
plain again at Lagos, the city seen from the west windows. The scenery 
is not so wild here, but is very pretty indeed. In the range to the west is 
the immense El Gigante, high above all the other mountains. 

Leon is another of the great cities of this fertile plain, and one of the 
largest in Mexico. It is on the east side of the road; its streets are hedged 
with cactus and shaded by trees. Nothing but the towers of the churches 
can be seen. 

At Silao is the branch road for Guanajuato. The city of Silao is on the 
east side of the road and nearer to it than most of the cities are. The ride 
of sixteen miles to Guanajuato is a very picturesque one. As the train winds 
about through the hills there are glimpses of the great mining city, first from 
one side of the cars, and then from the other. 

Irapuato is the junction of the Guadalajara division and the station for 
strawberries. They are on sale on the arrival of all trains, from June to 
January, and January to June. The city is on the west side, half a mile 
from the station. Salamanca is the next place of importance, and then Ce- 
laya, where this road crosses the Mexican National. Both these cities are 
to be seen from the west windows. In the latter, high above the trees, is 
the yellow-tiled dome of the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Carmen, and 
back of the city the plain slopes gradually to a high mountain that is seen 
miles up and down the road. This beautiful valley is what is called the 
Bajio region and it seems to have grown in beauty and fertility; hence on, 
to Queretaro, it is one vast garden between the low ranges of hills on either 
side. Queretaro is on the east side of the track and just north of the city; 
also on the east side is the hill where Maximilian and his generals were 
executed, and south of it the track passes through a pretty suburb, where you 
may see your first palm tree and the first oranges and lemons in the groves 
where they grow. Just after leaving the city the train passes under the 
great stone aqueduct that brings the city's water supply from the moun- 
tains, five miles away. There are eighty of these arches, the highest of 
which, near where the track passes under, is ninety-four feet. The view is 
first on the left and then on the right. The great Hercules cotton mill? may 
also be seen from the right windows. 

At San Juan del Rio, the last city on the line, the track reaches an ele- 
vation of 6,245 feet and commences the climb to the plain of Cazadero; and 
the City of San Juan del Rio may be seen for miles and miles as the train 
crawls up the slope; at the little station of Marquez it reaches the highest 
point on the line, 8,132 feet above the level of the sea, then starts on the 
down grade to the Tula Valley. Tula is the junction of the Pachuca branch. 
This little city is one of the Toltec towns where there are some old ruins. 
It is a very picturesque place on the east side of the track. 

No matter what may be the time of day, early in the morning, late in 
the evening, or if there be a moon, no matter what time of night, be ready 
to see the Tajo de Nochistongo, the great drainage canal, commenced in 
1607, with a purpose to drain the lakes above the plain of Mexico and prevent 
the inundation of the city, but after a cost of millions of dollars and thous- 
ands of men, was abandoned. The train passes on the east cut of the canal, 
so the view must be from the west windows or on the right, going south. 



274 

When this great work is approached let every window on that side be occu- 
pied. At Huehuetoca there is the first view of the snow mountains, the 
great volcanoes of Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl from the east windows, and 
of the plain of Mexico, and within an hour a journey that has been full of 
pleasure and crowded with novelty ends at Buena Vista station, in the City 
of Mexico. 

Westward to Guadalajara.— The ride over the division of the Mexican 
Central Railroad, from the main line at Irapuato to Guadalajara, is not ex- 
actly like any other ride in Mexico and for this it is interesting. I do not 
know that the junction point was located at Irapuato as a particular favor to 
the strawberry Indians, but the necessary time for the transfer of passengers 
and baggage is very much in their favor, and scarcely a passenger but adds to 
his outfit. The branch road starts northward but, within half a mile, turns 
due west and encircles the town on its north side, running along through a 
tree covered plain. The line is rich in scenic beauty, as all roads in Mexico 




A 11*11 iiMiiii ■iifll 



WATER CARRIERS, GUANAJUATO. 

are, the journey is one of pleasure, no matter what other object it may have, 
and it is a rich agricultural country as well. The first station of importance 
is Penjamo, the quaint looking old town lying to the south of the road, 
and may be seen from the cars. It is a very interesting old place, with its 
narrow and crooked streets. It has a population of about 8.000. La Piedad 
is the station for the old town of Piedad Cabadas, known in ancient and mod- 
ern history by other aliases, but now answering to the name given here. 
It is a city of some 10,000 people, located south of the line, in the valley of 
the Lerma. Near the station the River Lerma is crossed. Here this longest 
river in Mexico is crossed for the first time and the road follows its wind- 
ings, and runs along the south branch for some miles. From Yurecuaro a branch 
extends southward to Zamora and beyond to the timber regions of Michoacan. 
The line crosses the Lerma again at La P>arca, a city of 10,000 inhabitants, on 
Lake Chapala, where the Lerma empties into it. The river is sometimes called 



275 

the Rio Grande, and is referred to as the Mississippi of Mexico. It is a curious 
fact that this river empties into Lake Chapala at La Barca and t^ows out of it just 
below Ocotlan, fifteen miles farther on. Lake Chapala is a beautiful body of 
water, on which there are steamboats and sail boats. The machinery of the first 
steamer was brought from California, by sea, to San Bias, and thence packed on 
burros over the mountains; the boiler lies on the beach, a rusty monument to 
American pluck and energy. It is not recorded that anybody else has carried 
steamboats over the mountains on mules. The voyage around the lake is 
one of seventy miles, and of many delights in the superb scenery, excep- 
tionally beautiful. High and overhanging cliffs, reflected again in the clear 
waters, mountains, fertile plains, valleys with fields of fruit and groves of 
tropical trees. Sometimes, when a high east wind prevails, the waves loosen 
the vegetation growing in the shallow water of the delta, where the Lerma 
comes in and sends some floating islands, often an acre in extent, out into 
the lake. The town of Chapala, on the north shore, is picturesquely located 
under the towering cliffs of the mountain, and has long been a health re- 
sort of the natives, on account of the very hot springs that are there, which 
have a high reputation for their curative properties; the waters, clear as 
crystal, gush from under the rocks on the mountain side. Take boats from 
Ocotlan or stages from Atequiza for the resorts on Lake Chapala. Continuing 
the journey by rail, west from La Barca, the track comes to the river again 
and crosses it, after it has left the lake, near Ocotlan, the third crossing of 
the river. From the windows on the right there is to be seen a fine old 
Spanish bridge of many arches, near Poncitlan, and from the left there is 
another glimpse of the lake. The stream here is more entitled to the name 
of river than most of the Mexican rios are. They are mostly brooks or creeks, 
are entirely dry, except in the rainy season, when they are roaring, raging 
torrents ; but this is a river that makes a leap of nearly a hundred feet over the 
rocks at Juanacatlan. 

El Castillo is the station for the Falls of Juanacatlan, the Niagara of Mexico, 
and, though a somewhat smaller edition, is not unlike the world's greatest 
cataract. A branch road runs from the station to the falls, a ride of only 
about four miles, and is accomplished in about twenty minutes ; a trip to the 
falls is one of the things to do. The immense water power, that for cen- 
turies has been owned by one of the prominent families of Mexico, was util- 
ized only to turn the wheels of a mill until an electric light plant was put 
in, and from this point the lights of Guadalajara are supplied. There is 
now a great cotton and woolen mill whose wheels are turned by the falls. 
Water-falls are not common in Mexico ; it is only in the rainy season that 
water falls to any alarming extent. There are cascades and cataracts that 
are not all in your eye, so to speak, here, there and everywhere, that are not 
always useful or ornamental for the one requisite of water, but Juanacatlan 
is a beauty and a joy that goes on forever in the rainy season and out of it, 
but particularly in the rainy season. 

The first glimpse of Guadalajara is to be had from the windows on the 
right hand, looking forward. The towers begin to peep over the hills, and 
a little further on those of San Pedro can also be seen north of the track. 
While you watch these, the train is rolling on up the grade, and in a few 
minutes is passing the outlying gardens of the very beautiful city of Guada- 
lajara. 

From Guadalajara the line runs westward to the mining districts of Ameca 
and San Marcos, with an ultimate extension to Tepic and the Pacific Coast. 

Westward to the Pacific. — The Mexican Central Railway completed its 



276 

track from Guadalajara to Manzanillo in 1908 and now has a trans-continental 
line from the Gulf to the Pacific. 

The ride from Guadalajara is interesting in every mile of it. Leaving the 
station the route is east for a mile or more, and then turns southward, tending 
westward. There is a fine view of Guadalajara and that delightful suburb of 
San Pedro as the train passes through the fertile fields dotted with white- 
walled haciendas. The ride increases in interest and the views grow pictur- 
esque. Near J\Iazatepec are the storage reservoirs for irrigation in the valley 
a little further on, and after leaving Valencia there is a splendid view of moun- 
tain, lake and plain, aqueducts here and there and different levels with long 
lines of graceful arches. 

One of the most picturesque views is of the Hacienda of Bella Vista, seen 
first from the north and from the hills above: then the road winding down 
finally comes almost under the shadow of its domes and towers, passes over, 
under and alongside its arched aqueducts that in one place are outlined 'gainst 
the sky in a long line of grey stone. Along here the road crooks and turns till 
three tracks of the route may be seen — one of the most pleasing panoramas in all 
Mexico. 

The railway has not been here long enough to drive the pack mule out 
of business, and he still makes up some long trains of his own, carrying the 
products of the country; but not to such long distances, not to Guadalajara 
any more ; he puts his burden down at Santa Ana and the other stations along 
the line. There is a sugar country round about Santa Ana, as indicated by the 
wares of the station peddlers, who bring to the passing trains crude candies made 
from native sugar and put up in tiny crates made of thin slats of cane not 
longer than your finger, each deftly tied at the corners with a thread. The box 
is Avorth the price, and the candy is not half bad. 

After Santa Ana the route is southward over a wide plain with blue hills 
all around, following a chain of shallow lakes whose waters are flecked with the 
white of thousands of cranes and pelicans. 

Zacoalco is an old village of that sort we. see in the old-time geographies 
a church with arched walls and a moth-eaten tower background against a 
sharp peaked mountain. 

This chain of yellow-water lakes extends southward to Sayula. In the dry 
season the diligencias had a smooth road through the middle of the channel 
Now, since the passing of the diligencia, the railway skirts the borders, passing 
villages of thatched huts embowered in tropic trees. 

Near Sayula are some fine mining properties, and the town, waking from 
a lethargy, begins to show signs of life. In a ride of five kilometers south- 
ward there is a grade of 700 feet to Quemado. where there is a fine view of 
the plain and the yellow lakes to the northward and the wide spreading plain. 

After turning the summit at Quemado down into another valley there are 
some more yellow lakes, and the towers of Zapotlan are seen in the distance. 
A.fter leaving Zapotlan and thence to Tuxpan there are fine views of the Volcano 
of Colima. 

From Tuxpan to Colima and to the coast at Manzanillo the scenery is grand 
beyond compare and not to be described truthfully in any space, certainly not 
on one page of a book. 

Eastward to Tattipico. — One writer on Mexico advises to come to the 
country by sea and proceed from the lowlands to the highlands, with the 
idea that this is the best from a scenic point of view — to go upward and let 
the scene grow upon you. I don't think so, but rather to come from the 
broad table-lands to an abrupt jumping-off place and look down, even over 



277 

the tops of other mountains, lower hills and sloping plains, away to the sea, 
and let the picture fade in its mists. To my mind this is a picture that no 
pencil can paint nor pen portray. It is often thus in Mexico, and particularly 
so in this ride eastward to Tampico. The Tampico division of the Mexican 
Centra] Railway leaves the main line at Aguas Calientes, at least this is the 
nominal junction point where trains are made up and where passengers change 
cars, when that is necessary, but the actual point of junction is at Chicalote, 
nine miles north, to where trains run on the main line and then switch off to 
the east-bound track. 

The maguey of this region is used for the manufacture of mescal. The plant 
is very much smaller than the pulque-maguey of southern Mexico; it runs to 
root and it is from the root that the mescal is distilled. The nopal, or, as it 




FOR RAINY WEATHER. 

is called sometimes, the prickly pear, grows here in the densest thickets. It 
bears a really palatable fruit that is a 'staple article of food with the natives, 
who also use the leaves to feed to cattle, the thorns having first been taken 
off by slightly singeing in the fire. 

The only place of importance between Aguas Calientes and San Luis Po- 
tosi is Las Salinas de la Penya Blanca, a place of 5,000 people, near the sta- 
tion of Salinas, where one of the greatest deposits of salt in the world is 
located; the immense product is shipped to all parts of the country. The ha- 
cienda of the Errasu family, the owners of this immense estate, is very like 



S78 

a castle of the olden times, with its moat, draw-bridge, portcullis and ail; 
the walls are as thick as those of a fortress and have their watch-towers and 
port' holes. This was all very necessary in the earlier days of bandits in 
Mexico: For several years just previous to the completion of the railway, 
the production of salt was pushed to the fullest capacrcy, so that there were 
thousands and thousands of tons ready for shipment when the road was com- 
pleted, and now there are required several miles of sidetracks to reach the 
vats and warehouses. 

After Salinas the descent commences, and it is more than average down- 
grade from here to Tampico, and it is simply rolling over one hill after an- 
other, down to San Luis Potosi. It is an impressive view of the city, as the 
train comes down from the highlands, enters the city from the north, through 
a wide avenue, and stops in the handsome stone station that fronts the ala- 
meda, almost in the city's center. 

Leaving San Luis Potosi, the road crosses the Mexican National Railroad, 
on the outskirts of the city, and by the steady and gradual slope of the plain, 
runs down nearly 1,500 feet in forty-seven miles, to Villar. The descent to 
the coast is by a series of terraces; each terrace has its range of hills on 
the outward edge, which makes this region peculiarly picturesque. It will 
be noticed that the east side of these hills is covered with trees, while the 
west slope is comparatively bare. Here and there these table-lands are cut 
through by caiions, and down through them tumbles the water, in a thous- 
and cascades, from terrace to terrace, from one table-land to another, on down 
to the sea. 

From Villar to Las Tablas is another drop in the track of about 1,500 
feet, and then it is a little up-grade to Cardenas. The run has been through 
the beautiful San Isidro Valley; the track has twisted and turned about the 
mountain slopes. The drop has been so gradual as to be hardly noticed, and 
if you have thought the scenery grand, as it indeed is, do not exhaust your 
adjectives; they will be needed a little further on, where you can exhaust all 
that are in all the languages of the world, over these, the grandest views of 
the world. 

From Cardenas to Las Canoas is only fourteen miles, but the drop is 
about 700 feet, through the very lovely valley where there is verdure bright 
and green. Las Canoas, being interpreted, means "the canoes," not that 
there are any canoes hereabouts, nor are any needed, nor is there water 
enough to float one; there is water enough, but not in any one place, and 
it is too much on the slant, falling in a hundred cascades. Las Canoas is 
simply a little canoe of a valley and the prettiest one in the world, because 
there is no other just exactly like it — "a grassy-bottomed cup, closed in by 
precipitous mountains, from which strange formations of fantastically disposed 
rocks reach out into the even ground." One rock near the road, just 
above the station, seems a gigantic stage setting for the depicting of some 
scene in old Scotland, though Scotland has no such rocks and hills as these. 
You may see the pretty little cup of a valley while the train stops at the 
station; it is only a little one, and one look around will cover it. though it 
induces to dwell upon its very loveliness. Just ahead there is the beginning 
of the great Canon of the Tamosopo. There indeed is the veritable "jump- 
ing-off place." There, at that switch, you can see the rails bend downward 
over the edge of the canon — a switch with a signal arm so long that it ex- 
tends across the track; no train or engine can pass it without throwing it 
down, and the train ofif the rails. The place is one of such importance that 
even human watchfulness is not to be trusted, as a car or train once beyond 
control, and beyond this switch, would be lost, but this is a safety switch that 



279 

fjaves. It is always thrown to a side track that runs out on a level place 
and averts any possibility of an accident; the switch is never opened except 
while a train is passing, and is closed instantly by the ever attendant watchman. 
This is a pretty valley indeed, but there are grander scenes just beyond. 
Such feats of engineering as you have never dreamed of, no matter what rail- 
road you have traveled over. The beauties and the wonders of it are wholly 
indescribable and beyond compare. A seat on the left, or north side, of the 
car is the best; the rear platform, however, is the vantage point if you must 
travel by train. But if by any possible chance you have an opportunity to 
roll down the cafion on "the trolleys," or on an open car, do it. It is an 
experience of a lifetime, which the longest life will not forget. The trolley 
is what would be called, anywhere else, a hand-car, closely resembling the 
work-car of a section gang, but provided with a powerful brake, that the 




IN THE TAMOSOPO CANON. 

simple turning with the fingers will bring in contact with all the wheels in 
an instant; in fact it is only the experienced hand that prevents the trolley- 
car from stopping so quickly as to throw the occupants forward. There are 
seats for five persons on each car, and there are only two trolleys, so the 
equipment has not been arranged with a view to a large patronage, but if 
there were hotels at either end of the cafion, I think their number would have 
to be largely increased. And I, since I have traveled on the trolleys, would 
not have missed it, if I had to camp out at both ends of the ride. ^ There 
is an untrammeled view, forward and backward, up the steep mountain side, 
thousands of feet, down the deep depths of the canon, thousands of feet, 
and across the awful chasm, to the heights and cliffs beyoiid, with no nar- 
row windows or door to curtail the magnificent grandeur of the view. This 



280 

is travel by trolley, down the great canon of Tamasopo, but the average trav- 
eler must be content with the Pullman car. 

The throttle of the engine is hardly opened to give the wheels a turn at 
Las Canoas, when it is closed, and not opened again until the mouth of 
the cafion is reached, seventeen miles away, and no steam is used except 
for the brakes. One hour and twenty-seven minutes are used to travel these 
seventeen miles that might be done in ten minutes of real hurry, if there 
were no curves on the track. The slow time is for safety's sake, and the 
danger has been brought to a minimum, so that it is not thought of; in 
fact, there is little thought of anything but the wonderful road and its won- 
derful scenery. 

At the head of the cafion the little river jumps off in a pretty cascade, 
tumbles over the rocks, foams and frets over the great boulders, for some 
hundreds of feet, then dives into the ground and is seen no more for sev- 
eral miles. In the rainy season there is such a volume of water that it can- 
not pass through the underground passage, but runs over what is now the 
dry bed of the caiion. 

The caiion widens and the view grows grandly. Here and there the track 
is held by great walls of stone, and coming to some jutting crag too sharp, 
too abrupt to build around, a tunnel is cut through. In one place there are 
three within a few feet of each other, so that a train of ten cars would be 
in three tunnels at one time. In our mountains and caves there are pulpits, 
chairs and slides described as the Devil's, but the Devil's Backbone is here 
on the Alexican Central, in the Tamasopo Cafion, and there is a hole through 
it big enough for a railroad train to pass. Passing from the darkness of one 
of these tunnels into the broad light of brightest day, the marvelous view 
bursts upon the vision with no warning of its stupendous immensity. Perpen- 
dicularly down, more than a thousand feet, is the density of tropical green 
that is shaded lighter up the mountain side, and in a thousand hues, as the 
sunlight falls upon them at this angle or that. Over on the other mountain, 
the bright spots of lighter green are patches of sugar, and here, below our 
track, is the delicate pink of the rosewood tree; each tree seems as one huge 
posy, so thick the blossoms are. Far away over the other mountains, far 
away over the other valleys, the panorama, it seems, stretches to infinity, and 
while we hear the rushing of the waters, so far below, we think we can see 
the waters of an aerial river, or the distant seas where earth and air are lost 
in their intermingling. These mountains are unlike those of the interior, be- 
ing covered with a tropical verdure, fed by the constantly blowing mists from 
the sea, while the valleys are luxuriantly rich in the density of the full tropical 
foliage, and what we see here, we have not seen before in all our travels 
in Mexico, or other lands we may have traveled in. for there is not its equal 
in varied beauty or difficulty of engineering accomplishment. 

There are six tracks in view, as the road twists and turns down towards 
the valley, that we seem never to get nearer to, and in one place a track 
see,ms just under us, though we must travel six miles before we reach tlie 
spot in view. It was here that, on that famous trip of the trolleys, we lost 
our Mexican attendant, who had gone back as a flagman against a possible 
following train, and we left him behind, as we thought, but not if he knew 
himself, his country and our lunch basket, of which latter he had had a 
taste. He simply clambered down the rocks and sat down to rest on a tie 
of the track down the mountain while we rolled off our six miles and caught 
up with him! 

If ever Joseph's brethren had let him down into this pit of St. Joseph — 
this Hoyo de San Jose in the Tamasopo Canon — he would never have got- 



281 



ten out to distinguish himself either in Egypt or anywhere else. It is said to 
be bottomless. It is in evidence that various and sundry burros, whose misfor- 
tunes forced them over the brink, never returned, and that place whence no 
burro returns has no stopping place of even the narrowest proportions, and 
where a burro cannot climb must partake of the perpendicular, or of a polished 
surface. Indeed, this Hoyo de San Jose is a wonderful hole-in-the-ground, 
where rivers of water empty their torrents in the rainy season. There is no 

outlet, and the pit 
does not fill up, 
then is it not bot- 
tomless, quicn sa- 
he? The railroad 
must describe a 
figure 8 to get 
around the pit, and 
just west of it is 
established a little 
station and an- 
other safety switch 
that is always set 
for the side track. 
Here now are 
the full tropics, as 
you have dreamed 
of them — g r e a t 
giant trees, with 
hanging vines 
from the highest 
branches. These 
and the trees are 
covered with or- 
chids, that flourish 
in the moisture of 
the mists from the 
sea. This almost 
impenetrable for- 
est is a dense mass 
of verdure, from 
the top-most 
branches to the 
ferns that grow in 
their shade. A lit- 
tle farther on the 
wild undergrowth 
at first, as there 
The road 




AT PUENTE DE DIOS. 



has been cleared away. This may not be apparent, 
seems to be, and there is still, an undergrowth of — cofifee trees, 
runs through the midst of one of the finest coffee plantations, and if 
there is time to stop at the little platform on the left of the track, you may 
walk through it, and down a thousand steps to the Puente de Dios, where a rush- 
ing mountain stream leaps in a flying cascade into a beautiful pool, passes out 
of view, ai:d appears again in other pretty pools below this Bridge of God. 
If the scenery here is -not so wild, so grandly picturesque, it is not the less 



282 

interesting; passing from the forest and the coffee groves the road comes 
to an open space and a comparatively level spot where the timber has been 
cut away. On the right is a village of the timber cutters, a group of thatched 
huts that, until now, you may not have seen except in pictures, as much 
a tropical village, both as to architecture and fashion of dress, as you will see. 

Here, on the left of the road, is a river fringed with palms and palmettos. 
The road follows along its banks to Tamasopo, now a little railroad town where 
trains are made up, and great heavy double-header engines are kept to 
take them up the mountain. Just out of Rascon the river is crossed and 
the grade is downward to Valles, then up a short distance to another canon, 
not so great as the one just passed, but with one view at least, it is worth 
them all to see. It is the Cafion del Abra de Caballeros, and the grand view 
is of El Salto del Abra de Caballeros at the Boca del Abra. The view is 
from the left or north windows of the cars, or best from the rear platform. 

Some day the railroad company will operate an open observation car 
from Las Canoas, because the magnificence of the scenery demands and it 
is impossible to grasp its grandeur from any car that has sides or a roof. 
The track comes to the head of the cafion and runs along high on the moun- 
tain side. The river comes to view only a little below the roadwa}', but 
for a mile or more the marvelously colored waters fall in one cascade over 
another till there is a score or more — some more than a hundred feet in 
height — all the time in full view from the cars; the roar of the lower falls 
cannot be heard from the depth so far below. Here, at the mouth of the 
caiion, from the high point where the track is, is the most magnificent pic- 
ture I ever saw. There is a greater fall of water at Niagara, but the high 
towering peaks are here at El Salto del Abra, and here is a casfade of three 
hundred feet, and a chain of them more than a mile long. The composi- 
tion of the landscape is simply superb; there are neither words to describe 
it and no pencil, however deft, can paint its beauties. The color is of na- 
ture's own and in her brightest hues. On the other side of the cafion a tow- 
ering peak is 3,000 feet high, its sides precipitously drop down in gray rocks 
to the water's edge, washed by the torrent that goes on forever, and the 
cliffs are whitened by the filmy white foam that rises in mists from this 
home of the cascades. Back beyond the beginning of the falls, another and 
a higher mountain raises its head loftily. If you can, persuade your con- 
ductor to stop a minute — a minute here is worth an hour anywhere else in 
the world where a railroad runs — only a minute for the very grandeur of it. 

I stood there and gazed rapturously. I asked for another minute, but 
I was called back to earth from the pinnacle to where I had soared. I took 
that minute, and my rifle from the car, with the thought to see if it would 
carry to the cliffs beyond. I fired a shot, and a thousand parrots, startled, 
flew screaming, circling around above and below us, settling down again in 
the trees where their dwelling places are. 

While these minutes were flying, the one great picture had so filled the 
eye that not one look was taken ahead. Here the canon widens out and 
we look abroad, over a hundred miles of sloping plain, with undulating hills 
that lie between us and the sea. Still, however, we are skirting along the 
sides of high mountains in which there are many caves. One, La Ventana, 
has a chamber that is nearly 700 feet high. The name comes from an open- 
ing or window near the top that may be seen a long way off, in the moun- 
tain side. To reach La Ventana requires a walk above the roadway, but an- 
other, Choy Cave, is immediately under the track; in fact, a bridge is built 
over the skylight of this cavern, and steps have been made down to the 
entrance two hundred feet below, from which comes a stream of clear, cold 



283 



water. The chamber of Choy Cave is over 200 feet high and with steps 
and passage ways along the subterranean river that is nearly a hundred feet 
deep. Downward the grade is, with plains and the biggest Mexican rivers 
to see and cross, the rivers Tamesi and Panuco, near Tamos. Near the line 
are the ruins of an ancient Aztec city that cover some miles of territory, so 
that it must have been a populous capital. These cities of the ancients of 
Mexico are not to be seen from the cars, but the more curious and venture- 
some tourist will tind a field to interest him and worth his while to explore, 
though he must camp out; there is not even a fonda for frijoles or tortillas, 
and only jacals for shelter. 

We came down from these grand mountains to the sea, and when we 
stopped at Tampico it was night, the car was rolled out on the jetties, and 
while the breezes of the Gulf fanned us, we listened to the lullaby of the waves, 
and dreamed of mountains miles and miles in height, that the sea beat 
against and came 
down over their tops 
in a cascade as wide 
as the ocean. 

Eastward over the 
IVlexicati Railway. — 
The first railway of 
Mexico was built 
from Vera Cruz to 
the City of Mexico, 
and, long before any 
of the others were 
finished, the fame of 
this one went abroad, 
and all over the 
world the wonders of 
its engineering feats, 
and the magnificence 
of its scenery, was 
told, till people 
crossed the seas with 
no other object than 
to look upon its beau- 
ties, and the won- 
drous work of its 
building. It is easier 
of access now, and the barranca road near Guadalajara. 

there are thousands of travelers that start eastward from the capital, or west- 
ward from the Gulf, with the same object in view. 

Passing out of the fine station of Buena Vista, the track takes a north- 
erly course from the City of Mexico, and runs along the solid roadbed of 
an ancient causeway, trod by pilgrims to the shrine of Guadalupe for more 
than three centuries, and on either side of the track stand the shrines where 
the processions halted, and weary wayfarers worshiped. Along the east side 
of the track is the more modern road of foot travel, and the line of electric 
cars, from the city to the shrine. Under the shadow of Guadalupe the track 
turns somewhat to the east; on the left is the village, the great church, the 
stone sails, and the chapel on the hill all to be seen from the cars. 

There is. little choice of seats just here. On the right there are views of 
ihe city, the lake and plain, and the great volcanoes. Popocatepetl and Ixtac- 




284: 

cihuatl are constantly in view, then Malintzi, and then Orizaba. In two hun- 
dred miles there are snow-capped mountains always in sight. On the right 
is Lake Texcoco, on the left Lake San Cristobal, and on either side may be 
seen the great drainage works that drains the water from these lakes, reclaims 
the lands of the valley, and carries away the sewage of the city. 

Near San Juan Teotihuacan are the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, seen 
from the windows on the left. Not very formidable pyramids as seen from the 
cars, but the "Sun" is 216, and the "Moon" 151 feet high; the former more than 
half as large as the great Cheops of Egypt. Between the two pyramids is a 
causeway, called the Street of the Dead, also seen from the cars. 




PYRAMID OF THE SUN. 

At Otumba is the field of battle between Cortez and the Mexicans, July 8, 
1520, during the retreat after the defeat of the Noche Triste. 

These scenes left behind, and after passing Ometusco, the junction point 
for Pachuca, the course is southeastward, across an almost level table-land, to 
the Plain of Apam, where the pulque grows, the track passing through fields 
and fields of thousands and thousands of acres of the immense plants that 
an American would call "century" plants. The Apam pulque is the best, or, 
perhaps it is better to say, the favorite, with those who drink pulque, and 
if you have not made the experiment, you will find no better place to try 
it than at Apam. The dealers meet all trains. 



285 

The pulque traffic is a source of great revenue to the railway companies. 
Regular trains, carrying nothing but pulque, leave the stations in the re- 
gion from one to three o'clock in the morning, running on fast time, reaching 
the city between five and six o'clock. The barrels and hogskins are tumbled 
out onto the Custom House platform, the duty paid, and a hundred carts and 
cargadores take it to the "shops," all over, the city. Pulque will not keep, 
and the Mexican knows it. He hurries it onto the train, and rushes it to the 
place of sale, drinks it and goes back after another load. From the fields to 
the "shops" it is not more than a day. When the plant is about to send 
up the long slender shoot that bears the bloom of the century plant, the bud 
is cut out, and in the basin formed the sap gathers, and is taken out by a 
man, with a long slender gourd. With his lips he withdraws the air from 
the gourd, and the crude pulque fills it, and is 'poured into the hogskin 
on his back, which, when full, is loaded on a burro or cart, taken to the 
hacienda, and after a quick process of fermentation, it is ready for the pulque 
train and the market. 

At Soltepec all four of the great peaks may be seen in one grand sweep 
of the vision. At Apizaco the branch line extends south to the city of Puebla, 
passing Santa Ana, the station for the ancient city of Tlaxcala. Along the 
branch are some points of scenic interest. On the right, after leaving the 
station, is the Church of Santa Cruz, a little further on, on the left, the grand 
old mountain, Malintzi, in the distance, and near the road a little canon and a 
cascade, whose waters supply the power for a woolen mill. After crossing 
some barrancas, the train makes a stop at Santa Ana, from whence street 
cars run to Tlaxcala. The towers of its churches are seen from the windows 
on the right, and in a little while, from these same windows, may be seen the 
Pyramid of Cholula, and a look ahead will show the towers of Puebla and 
the old forts on the hills beyond. 

Buy canes at Apizaco; canes of all the woods that grow m Mexico. They 
are on sale on the station platform, along with the cakes, pies and pulque. 
You can buy one^ or a cord, for it seems here is a solution of the timberless 
hills of the country; they have been stripped by the cane makers of Apizaco. 
There are large canes and small, cut and carved in designs fantastic, painted 
in all the colors of the rainbow and of the flowers that grow. Canes for the 
old man, the dude, and the small boy. It is Apizaco's admonition, that if any 
man passes that way, and afterward goes down to his grave caneless, it is 
his own fault. There is a good restaurant and bufifet in the station, and there 
is usually time to buy canes and coffee, during the time of transfer of pas- 
sengers and baggage for Puebla. 

Leaving Apizaco, the course of the main line is slightly to the south- 
east, and in a few miles the highest point on the line, 8,333 feet, is reached. 
The road runs at the base of old Mount Malintzi, and, passing the foot-hills, 
comes to San Andres, where passengers desiring to make the ascent of the 
volcano of Orizaba change cars. Now the scenery becomes more interesting, 
as the track winds in and out among the hills, a seeming prelude to the 
gradeur, just ahead, that no words are adequate to describe. 

Esperanza is the stopping place at the edge of the great terrace of the 
table-land, 8,043 feet above the sea, where commences the descent to the tierra 
caliente. At Esperanza the Mexican Railway maintains extensive yards and 
shops ; from hence, southward, a branch of the Mexican Southern extends 
to Tehuacan. The station building combines ticket and telegraph offices, 
a good restaurant and comfortable hotel. It is not much of a pull for 
the engine to make the start out of the Esperanza yards. The loosening 
of the brake will sometimes start the train., without the opening of the 



286 

throttle. The wheels begin to turn, and the only steam needed will be to 
slow up, or stop the train. With only little stretches of up-grade, it is a roll 
from Esperanza to Vera Cruz. The drop from the yards here to Maltrata, 
seventeen miles, is 2,493 feet, and from Maltrata, (5,550 feet in altitude), to 
Orizaba, 3,943 feet. The slip down is 1,607 feet in thirteen miles, making a 
total descent of 4,100 feet in twenty-nine miles. 

A seat on the right of the car is to be chosen. The incline of the train 
can be felt, as it moves toward Boca del Monte, the "mouth of the moun- i 
tain," and here commences the grandest piece of scenery — one of the grand 
views of the world. On one side, the towering mountains — the road is only 
a little shelf hewn in the rocks — on the other, down a thousand feet or more, 
is a rushing stream, foaming and fretting over the rocks and boulders, at 
the bottom of a yawning caiion, and beyond it mountains as high as this on 
whose side the train crawls along. Whether the engineers sought the spot 
at Alta Luz as the most available for a water supply, or, in commendable 
forethought, placed the tank here that the people might enjoy the view, while 
water is taken, the deponent saith not, but the thanks of every traveler are 
due for the placing of the tank where it is, whatever may have been the 
motive. Without any warning, or prelude of the grandeur, the magnificence, 
the surpassing beauty of the picture, it bursts upon the vision. A bridge over 
an awful chasm inspires awe, and a tunnel shuts the eyes to its depths, for a 
moment only, and then, as in the sudden lifting of a curtain, from dark- 
ness to daylight, displays the picture that no pencil paints. 

Here the engine stops for water, a prosaic reason for such a poetic pleas- 
ure in the looking on such a view, and demands the travelers gratitude. 

No window is broad enough for its scope, and a doorway is all too nar- 
row. Every passenger is out and down on the narrow space between the 
rails and edge of the caiion. There is Maltrata, a dozen miles away, to fol- 
low the rails, yet we look down on the red tiles of the roofs; the round 
tower of the village church gleams in the sunshine, two thousand feet straight 
down below your feet; the streets, gardens, houses, look like the toys from 
a child's play-box, and the people are only pigmies. The green fields are 
like a checker-board, spread out in the valley. You may look beyond the val- 
ley, to the other mountains, look ahead to some others, and see above them 
the snow-tipped peak of Orizaba; or try to follow the silver thread of the 
stream in the valley, or the shining rails of the track, winding down the 
mountain. You may for a moment traffic with the Indians for the most beau- 
tiful orchids, but the gem of the view is in the valley right under you. and 
your furtive glances come back to this jewel of a valley. La Joya. till it 
is indelibly fixed in your mind as the most beautiful picture you ever saw. 

The object of the stop is accomplished, whether it was for water for the 
engine, or for you to see the view, and the train rolls on. Regretfully, per- 
haps, you think of the orchids, that you failed to purchase; surely, those very 
orchids were worth as many dollars in your own country as the Indians 
demanded in cents. And you wondered, perhaps, why they refused your of- 
fer, held them at the original price, and, unlike all the other Indians every- 
where else, would not take less. Just wait a little while, and you may have 
another chance at these same orchids. While the train is running its dozen 
miles, curving in and out on the hillside, there is a rough-and-tumble scramble 
of these Indians, two thousand feet down the rocks, and the same orchids 
that you didn't buy will be at the station at Maltrata when you get there; 
and as that is the last chance for the Indian to sell to-day, you may be able 
to Iniy at your own price. 

Crossing the little valley of Maltrata, keep your seat on the right of the 



287 



car. The road enters a canon, called "Infiernillo," the ravine of the "little 
hell," which, barring the absence of any superfluous heat, seems to be prop- 
erly named, and the railway builders must have had a difficult time in run- 
ning their lines through such a place. There is a bridge 140 feet high, 
with a sheer precipice above and below, with the mountain stream falling 
down the chasm in a roaring cascade. Through a tunnel, and out at the 
other end, is another beautiful valley, the Valley of the Cascades. The road 
runs down through the center of it, passing Nogales, and coming to Orizaba. 
There are fine views on either side, but the towns and villages are on the 
north of the road. 




ON THE MEXICAN (VERA CRUZ) RAFLWAY. 

Orizaba is on the border of the tropic lands, and the scenery hence is un- 
like any left behind. The finest views are on — both sides. The rear platform 
is the best position, as from there nothing should be missed. Running 
through the palm-shaded street, the road goes into the cane and coffee fields. 
The volcano is in the view, and the hill on the left, overlooking the city, is the 
Cerro del Borrego, where a small body of French held at bay a much larger 
force of Mexicans, during the Maximilian war. 

After six or seven miles, the line enters the Barranca de Metlac. The 
choice of seats is on the right, to see the deep ravine, and the Rio Metlac, 
nearly a thousand feet below. Here an immense horseshoe curve takes the 



288 

track around the head of the valley, over a curved bridge, on the other side 
of which is an ascending grade to Fortin, then down hill to Cordoba. The 
view down the river is a pretty one indeed, the old stone bridge of the high- 
way in the foreground, and the bluest of blue hills in the distance. 

The town of Cordoba is on the north of the track. It might be seen from 
the cars, but for the dense tropical forest intervening. It may seem to you 
that all the inhabitants are at the station, dressed in their best suits of clothes — 
bright and clean, wide of trouser, and broad of straw sombrero, and brightly- 
colored costume of woman's dress. Here the tropic Mexican appears, in all 
his picturesqueness, as he is seen in pictures. 

On down the hill, the road runs through coffee plantations, fields of sugar- 
cane and tropic forests of palm and palmetto, groves of oranges, gardens of 
mangoes, pineapples and bananas, from whence come the luscious fruits 
brought to the cars at Cordoba. 

Through some tunnels, and over bridges, the road drops down into the 
Atoyac Valle}'-, and crosses the river of that name, just beyond the station, 
and just after leaving it. On the right, after the tunnel is passed, is another 
beautiful view, with a cascade falling from the hill over the rocks, splashing 
the water to snowy foam, and making a silver ribbon through the deep val- 
ley below. Passing the bridge Chiquihuite, and that of San Alejo, the road 
comes to Paso del Macho, where the mountain scenery is left behind, and 
with a few more twists and turns, takes a due eastward course across the 
slope to Vera Cruz. 

From Esperanza to Paso del Macho an open car with no top or sides 
is almost a necessity and the day will come when they will be carried on 
express trains, as it is impossible to enjoy the full grandeur of the scenery 
in a closed car. 

Westward over tlie Ifltematioiial.— It makes little difference at what 
point the traveler comes to the border, his curious e3'es will look with won- 
der before he crosses the bridge over the narrow, sluggish, muddy little creek 
that forms the boundary between the United States and IMexico — a creek 
that does not seem to have grown a bit since it left El Paso, unless it be in 
mud and murkiness, and why it was ever called the Rio Grande nobody but 
the man who named it will ever know. Perhaps the discoverer came upon 
it unawares on a rainy day during the wet season, certainly not on such a 
day as when I saw it first, when it seemed there was hardly water enough and 
hardly current enough to carry the mud along. 

One does not look at the river, though, but to the hills beyond — the bleak 
and barren hills that came to view when you are a hundred miles away across 
the Texas prairies. And yet one does not see IMexico in these hills — only 
where Mexico is. Beyond the hills, in table-lands, fertile valleys and old- 
time cities with domed and towered churches, is IMexico. 

At Spofiford Junction, on the main line of the Southern Pacific, a division 
of the road makes a detour to the southwestward, and comes to the border 
at Eagle Pass, where the connection is with the ]\Iexican International Rail- 
road. The town on the Texas side is Eagle Pass; at the other end of the 
steel bridge it is La Ciudad Porfirio Diaz. The original name of the town, 
Piedras Negras. was changed in honor of the President of Mexico. Since 
the opening of the line, in March, 1888, and the establishment of the railroad 
headquarters here, the towns have grown, till they now number about 6.000 
people. The altitude is 722 feet above the sea. and healthfulness is conceded. 
The higher elevations are not far away, and the climb to them commences at 
the river, reaching 1,200 feet, at Nava, in twenty-four miles, and. still on 
the rising grade, the road passes Allende, Leonora, Peyotes and Blanco, 



289 

places of 1,000 to 1,500 people. At Sabinas there is a branch to the coal rnines 
of Hondo and Felipe. The supply of bituminous coal is practically inex- 
haustible. A branch line to Lampazos is proposed to be extended from the 
coal mines. After crossing the Rio Sabinas, the average is up-grade to Mon- 
clova, where the altitude is 1,926 feet. 

At Hermanas are some hot springs that are claimed to be equal to the 
famous Hot Springs of Arkansas with a warm and equable climate. Mon- 
clova is one of the very many very old towns in Mexico, that have made 
very little headway in population or advancement, and the primitiveness of it 
is its novelty. Near the city is a rich mine of_ magnetic iron, and the whole 
region, round about, is rich in the more precious metals. 




IN ORIZABA. 

At Monclova a branch line extends westward to Cuatro Cienegas with 
an ultimate destination at Mazatlan on the Pacific coast, passing Sierra Mo- 
jada, Jimenez and Culiacan. From Nadadores there is a stage line thirty miles 
to San Lucas Springs, where there is a hotel and Sanatarium. 

From Reata a branch runs from the main line southwest to Monterey, where 
connection is made with the Mexican National and the Mexican Central 
Railways. The direction hence is almost due south, to Trevifio, the junc- 
tion point with the Monterey division of the Mexican Central Railway, and 
the Gulf at Tampico. At Jaral the road reaches an elevation of 3,753 feet, and 
runs within about thirty miles of Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, to which 
point a branch line is proposed. There is a look of utter desolation in these 
hills, but there are valleys between, where there are fertile lands, and where 
herds and flocks are grazing. 



890 

Now the road takes a more westerly course, runs along the table-lands 
and comes to Paila, where the altitude is 3,898 feet. A few miles to the south 
of the line is the very ancient town of Parras, one of the oldest in Mexico, 
having been founded some three hundred and fifty years ago. Th^ location 
is superb, renowned for its healthfulness, in the midst of a fine grape coun- 
try. The wines of Parras are sold in almost every Mexican city and are 
rated high. They are made in both clarets and sauternes. Parras is now 
reached by a division of the Mexican Central between Torreon and Saltillo. 

From Hornos a branch extends northward through the cotton country to 
San Pedro, fourteen miles. Near Hornos are the inexhaustible salt mines that 
supply the product to all parts of the country. 

At Matamoros there is an extension northward through the Laguna coun- 
try, forty-one miles, to Zaragoza, reaching the cotton districts. 

The course is now westward, running a little north of Lake Parras, a 
typical ]\Iexican lake about 3,600 feet above the sea level, and north of the 
line is the larger lake, Mayran. It is a level track now along the southern 
borders of the great Bolson de Mapimi until Torreon is reached, where con- 
nection is made with the Mexican Central Railway; the elevation, here, is 3,721 
feet. 

Torreon is near the Nazas River, the great irrigating ditch of this terri- 
tory, and three miles north is the city of Lerdo in the midst of Mexico's most 
famous cotton regions, where 'tis said the cotton grows on trees. Proceed- 
ing westward on the International it is only five miles to the lovely San 
Juan Valley where the train rounds a curve and rolls into the oasis. The 
high point of rocks on the left forms the gateway, and to the other side of 
the track the valley stretches away to the north. It is a pretty valley, is the 
San Juan, and they have made the waters of it run around its borders on the 
hillsides, and through aqueducts of stone, till it is high enough to irrigate the 
fields. I^ looks as though these Indian engineers had made the water run 
up hill; Vv'e crossed the stream back there, and here it is on a level with our 
windows. 

Across the valley the rows of trees show which way the river runs, and 
dotted here and there, little patches of white mark the village and hacienda, 
with the fertile fields in between and growing grain nearly ready for the 
harvest. They have two harvests each year in this valley, which they would 
not have one, perhaps, if they waited for the rains, but the blessed little river 
stands in the rainmaker's place. 

All the mountains in Mexico are cut in fantastic shapes, but here, on this 
road, a freakful nature seems to have outdone herself, or perhaps, this road 
gives us a closer view of the rocks and crags that look like castles or a herd 
of some huge monsters outlined against the sky. 

At Pedricena there is a branch southward six miles to Velardena. 

Some miles below there is a cave (any conductor will point out the place; 
a black hole in the hill on the north side), a veritable robbers' cave, where the 
bandits buried their dead, or came to hide themselves and count the proceeds 
of business in the old diligencia days. The robbers are not there now. but there 
are the relics of them in skulls and bones. The cave is high upon the almost 
perpendicular sides of the mountain and the opening is just large enough for 
a man to drop himself into a chamber twenty-five feet long, and as wide, with 
six or eight feet from floor to ceiling and a narrow opening to another smaller 
room. The darkness can almost be felt, and the dust of ages, a foot thick on 
the floor, makes the place uninviting. A friendly Mexican match will give 
a glimpse of the glittering stalactites; on the floor and against the sides of the 



291 

chamber are the evidences of the robber story, and a skull or twc may be added 
to your collection of curios from this curious country. 

Long drouths parch the country, but the land is fertile, even without rain, 
and irrigation is a science in Mexico. The stranger wonders what there is 
to support the haciendas that are as big as a town. "Can anything grow 
here?" some one asks. "Nothing is impossible in Mexico. See that palm tree 
over there in that hacienda; it is the only one within three hundred miles, 
and where the palm grows there is life in the land." This is truth; the palm 
is there and there is not another this side of Tampico. 




VOLCANO OF ORIZABA— VERA CRUZ RY. 

On the south of the road, a little farther on, is an extinct volcano that is 
near the track, some four or five hundred feet high, and if there was time for 
the stop, it would be worth all the climb to look down into the awful crater, 
with its sides and depths crusted with the lava of a thousand years, or more 
it may have been. You can see the volcano from the cars as you pass by, but 
you must climb to the crater if you would see that. I might enlarge upon 
this story, as the train does not stop here and there is little chance to disprove, 
but the truth is enough to tell of anything in Mexico. 



292 

The road now is, for the most part, across the plains; the everlasting hills 
surrounding it are never out of sight. There is an iron bridge across the bed 
of a river, now bone dry, that when you come back may be a rushing torrent. 
When it rains in Mexico, it rains; the showers may be few and far between, 
but when they come they make up for lost time. But, withal, there is life 
in this seemingly arid soil, else how came the trees that for miles along this 
plain make it look like one vast orchard? And there is water above ground, 
though your palace car point of observation may not disclose it, else where do 
they drink and how get a sustenance — these herds of horses and cattle? Across 
the spreading plain is the city of Durango afar off, the towers rising above 
the low-roofed, square-topped houses. Beyond the city, and overlooking it, is 
a high hill with the Church of -Los Remedios on its very top. A golden sunset 
makes the background of gorgeous hue, and while you watch its beauties the 
train rolls down to the station, where the people wait your coming just as they 
waited for those that came yesterday. 

The train comes to an anchor at the pretty stone station, and almost under 
the shadow of the wonderful iron mountain that was one of the objects of the 
building of this road. A mountain of solid iron it is, the ore ranging from 
75 to 90 per cent of pure iron, and enough of it to supply the world for a 
hundred years. The completion of the railroad did not help the iron industry 
of Durango, though. The little foundry that did a land-office business for so 
many years got thirty-five cents a pound for iron till the railroad came, and 
they found they could btty in Pittsburgh and ship to Durango for a great deal 
less than thirty-five cents. The old foundry, with its wooden machinery and 
water-power, has been replaced by a million-dollar smelter, and iron is cheaper 
now. 

A busy, bustling scene is at the station; coachmen call their destinations 
and fares, darting here and there to relieve some weary traveler of his baggage 
and, if he can, thrust him into his own particular coach, before the traveler 
can enter a word of protest. Private carriages are there in numbers, whose 
drivers, more dignified than the liverymen, assist their master, or their -master's 
guests to transfer baggage, all the while conscious of the admiring glances cast 
upon them by groups of pretty Indian girls, who are there, as everybody else 
is, for the purpose of seeing the train come in, and catching, at the same time, 
a glimpse of these 3^ouths in embroidered suits and gaily tinseled sombreros. 
Your anticipation of seeing a city extremely primitive is not realized at the 
station. You stand under the shelter of a modern stone station, with its smooth 
grass plat, roses, green trees and graveled walks, and watch the scene before 
you, then glance beyond the throng, down the track over which you just passed, 
to see the substantial freight depots of the big stores and smelters, each one 
of which has its own private depot and side-track for handling freight, and 
wonder why they called Durango "primitive." 

It was a matter of small wonder that the ancient city of Jerusalem should 
be so long without railroad communication with the outer world, and the 
completion of the line from Joppa was only the talk of a day, but a city more 
than three hundred years old, and with nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants, 
on this continent, and with a main line of railroad within a hundred and fifty 
miles of it, secured its first railroad since Jerusalem did. It was left to Durango 
to be the last of the great cities of Mexico to have a railway, and it is still 
such a novelty in that city that the populace wait at the station for the arrival 
of the train in the late afternoon, and come down early in the morning to 
see it pull out. 

It is to see this new, old city that attracts a journey down the line of the 
International Railway of Mexico; this, and to see the newest primitiveness 



293 



of Mexican city life before the women exchange their lace mantillas for Paris- 
ian bonnets, and the men strip the silver bangles from their trousers and change 
the ornamental, monogrammed sombrero for the silk tile. 

From Durango northward a branch line extends to Tepehuanes, traversing 
a rich mining region and through some fertile valleys, with an ultimate exten- 
sion to Guanacevi. 

Eastward over the luteroceaiiic. — Leaving the City of Mexico from the 
handsome station of San Lazaro, the trains of the Interoceanic -Railroad pass 
through the eastern outskirts of the city and come to the field of practice of the 
artillery school, with its adobe targets on the left of the track, and run along 
an ancient causeway that was once the high road between the capital of the 
Montezumas and the great 
city of the Tezcucans. On 
both sides of the track, 
and very close to it, are 
tall trees that make a 
shaded avenue for some 
miles, and such an avenue 
is on the roadway of no 
other line on earth. Look- 
ing back from the rear 
platform, it will be seen that 
the branches almost meet 
above the cars, and down 
the long vista seem to close 
the entrance where the 
train came in. On the 
right are the plains and 
marshes extending to Ix- 
tapalapa. La Estrella and 
Perion, and to the extinct 
volcano of Ajusco, to be 
seen in the distance. On 
the left is Lake Texcoco; 
on the right, the waters and 
marshes of Xochimilco and 
Chalco. Turning around 
the southern shore of Lake 
Texcoco, the road comes to 

Los Reyes, the junction of jalapa. 

the Morelos Division with the main line, a picturesque Indian town, where the 
people bring fish to the trains to sell to the passengers as something out of the 
ordinary of train and station peddlers in Mexico, or, perhaps, anywhere else. 
Skirting the eastern shore of the lake the road enters a fertile plain, where there 
are haciendas, villages and churches without number. At the station of Chapingo 
is the hacienda of the late ex-President, General Gonzales, on the north of 
the track a group of gorgeously painted houses, bearing an oriental look of 
towers and bright colors; on the right, almost opposite the hacienda of Cha- 
pingo, is the village of Huixotla, with an old church and older ruins of Aztec 
origin. Texcoco is the town that in the old Toltec ^ays was the rival of 
Tenochtitlan, or the City of Mexico, and the capital of a powerful nation. 
At Texcoco Cortez stopped to prepare his bergantines, with which to transport 
his army over the waters of the lake. Tetzconcinco, or the "laughing hill," the 
favorite resort of Netzahualcoyotl, the Tezcucan chief, three miles east of Tex- 




294 

coco, may be seen from the windows on the right, and near it the trees that 
overshadow the Molino de Flores, and a little farther on is the aqueduct of the 
waters for these gardens and palaces of the chiefs of the olden times. 

The course is almost due north for some miles, to make a circuit of the foot- 
hills of the great volcanoes that are always in the view. At the little station 
of San Antonio, and between there and Metepec, there is a fine view of the 
Texcoco Valley, the lake, and beyond it the City of Mexico, forty miles away; 
and also from the north windows, beyond Metepec, in the distance, are the 
pyramids of the Sun and Moon, which are older, perhaps, than Cheops of 
Egypt. 

At Otumba, Cortez met the army of the Aztecs in 1520, and drove them in 
retreat before him. At Irolo are two branch roads to Pachuca, and at San 




OLD SPANISH FORT NEAR PEROTu. 

Lorenzo the "cut ofif" runs east to Oriental where it joins the main line agam. 
The line via Puebla here starts on an up-grade, reaching an altitude of 9,000 
feet near Nanacamilca. and then down on the other side, through a most pic- 
turesque district, passing along the mountain sides, through caiions, and down 
to the depths of the barranca, with constantly changing scenes in every turn 
and curve, till it comes to the lovely valley of San Martin Texmelucan, with its 
streams of clear, sparkling water, shady woodlands, and scenes of prosperity. 

Passing San Martin and Analco, the line enters the great plain and valley 
of Puebla. one of the richest in all Mexico; the great haciendas here and there 
and everywhere are in evidence of its wealth. At Los Arcos is the junction of 
the branch to Cuautla. On the right is Cholula. the greatest of the Mexi- 
can pyramids ; hence the road runs across the plain to Puebla. Leavmg Puebla 
the road skirts the eastern slope of great Malintzi, and at certain points 



295 



there is a striking resemblance in the outline of the rocky crest to a giant face; 
and here also is a view to be enjoyed perhaps nowhere else in the world, the 
road running through a semi-tropical valley in sight of four snow-capped moun- 
tains — Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl to the west, Malintzi in the foreground, 
and Orizaba far to the east. It is a fact that, in all the miles of all the 
divisions of the Interoceanic road, with scarcely an exception of half an hour's 
run, there is a snow-capped 
mountain always in the view. 
The route is now to the north- 
east, crossing the Mexican 
Railway at San Marcos, and 
coming to a well-watered 
plain that is just on the verge 
of the terrace that drops down 
to the hot lands. At Virreyes 
is a branch road to San Juan 
de los Llanos and the junction 
of the Tecolutla division now 
completed to Teziutlan. On 
the right of the road, near Pe- 
rote, is the old castle of Pe- 
rote, an ancient fortress built 
by the Spaniards soon after 
the conquest, as a stopping 
place for rest, after the long 
pull up the mountain. Here 
was kept a large garrison of 
soldiers that patroled the road 
between Vera Cruz and Pu- 
ebla in the old bandit da3'-s. 
Las Vigas is on the very edge 
of the great terrace. If there 
is no mist in the valley, the 
view is grandly magnificent ; 
or, you may look out over a 
sea of white clouds with the in- 
describable sensation of travel- 
ing by rail above them and 
through their filmy folds. 
The track is through an end- 
less lava bed that is a confused 
mass of black rock, from a 
pebble to huge pieces of the 
weight of tons. It was a 
marvelous piece of engineering 
in the building of this road 
and every crook and turn of its track seems to show greater difficulties over- 
come. At no place is the grade more than two and a half feet to the lOo, which 
is remarkable, when the face of the country traversed is considered. The views 
are marvelous and beyond compare. There is the chalk-faced Cofre de Perote, 
white capped Orizaba, and the lesser hills sloping away to the Gulf, the waters 
of which, the ships and the white houses of Vera Cruz are a hundred miles 
away. It is a continual drop down till the train stops in the region of the full 
tropics, at the picturesque station of the ancient town of Jalapa, and thence the 
grade is still downward to Vera Cruz. 




A COUNTRY HOME. 



296 

Between Palmar and Colorado is a beautiful piece of railroad work, in the 
famous Huarumbo cutting, the deepest cut in Mexico, where the line makes 
almost a complete loop. Near Rinconada is a sugar-loaf mountain, Cerro 
Gordo, where one of the hardest fights of the American war was fought; 
it is a wonderful track along here. There are a hundred horse-shoe curves. At 
one place the track you are to pass over seems a thousand feet below you, 
the white rock of the ballast showing through the verdure of the intervening 
trees. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether that is the track just passed over 
or the one you are coming to. In one view there is a perfect replica of the 
Hudson palisades. 

Down at San Francisco the thatched houses of the tropics are shaded by 
feathery palm trees, and the straggling villages seem to have their residences 
designed chiefly for ventilation, with the walls of reeds and the roofs of palm 
leaves. Numberless streams from the mountains flowing to the sea are crossed 
here and there, and at La Antigua the river of the same name is passed on 
a steel bridge, near the place of a landing constructed by Cortez, where there 
are some old cannon accredited to the conqueror, and near by some tombs and 
an old church, bearing date of 1526. In the approach to Vera Cruz all beauty is 
left behind, and but for the rolling surf of the sea, here might be the entrance 
to the desert of Sahara, where the sand blows in drifts like the beautiful snow, 
and where real snow fences are necessary to keep the sand from burying the 
tracks. But there is only a mile or two of this, and it is not to be remembered 
with all the grand beauties of the hills behind us. 

The Morelos Division of the Interoceanic Railway leaves the main line 
eleven miles out of the City of Mexico at Los Reyes and runs southwest. 
The first station of importance is Ayotla, where, like Los Reyes, the inhab- 
itants bring fish to the trains to sell. The old adobe town on the right of the 
track, on the shores of the lake, is a very pretty one. 

After passing Ayotla the road makes a turn around the lake, and the vol- 
canoes come to view and are in sight through all the journey, seen first from 
the left windows, but as the track curves about are seen from either side. 

La Compaiiia is a very pretty little village, where there is horse-car con- 
nection on the left for Tlalmanalco, and on the right, along a shaded roadway, 
to Chalco, a city on the border of the lake, whose towers and domes can be 
seen for some distance as the train moves southward. Next is the village 
of Cuatlenchan, on a hill on the left side; the church on the top of the hill is 
seen up and down the road for several miles. 

Amecameca is the stopping place for the pilgrims bound for the craters of 
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. The train rounds the hill and stops right at the 
base of Sacro Monte, the sacred mountain, one of the most picturesque shrines 
in all Mexico. Look from the windows on the right, or, while the train waits, 
step on the platform for a good view of the stone stairway, almost hidden 
by a dense grove of trees. The city lies spread out on a plain on the left of 
the track. Tourists who have no time for a longer stay, or do not continue 
to the end of the road, may leave Mexico on the morning train, have a few 
hours at Amecameca and return in the afternoon. The view from the Sacro 
]\lonte is superbly magnificent. No nearer view of the volcanoes is obtainable 
unless the ascent is made, which requires three days' time and is attended with 
much discomfort; but the adventure of the ascent, and the seeing of the 
grandest view in the world, from a height of nearly 18,000 feet, is worth any 
amount of fatigue. Leaving Amecameca the railway passes through one of 
the streets of the town and crosses the stone causeway which was built for 
the pilgrim processions, between the church and the shrine. At a point a few 
miles south of Ozumba the highest elevation of the road is reached, there 



297 

having been a continuous climb from the plain of Mexico, and the down- 
grade to the hot country is commenced; without an engine the train would 
roll to Cuautla, too fast, so the engine is retained to hold it in check. From 
the station at Nepantla there is a magnificent view from the left windows, a 
view taking in millions of acres of the hot lands to the mountains, a hundred 
miles beyond. For miles and miles, as the train rolls down the hills, may be 
seen, first from one side and then the other, the dome and tower of a church. 
The same church may be seen for two hours; it is the Church of San Miguel, 
at Atlatlahutla, and near it is an abandoned monastery. Here again the tourist 




THE OLDEST RAILWAY STATION IN THE WORLD— CUAUTLA. INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY. 



finds another feature of Mexico's scenery and people, totally different from all 
the other travels in the Republic. The houses are adobe as to walls and 
thatched as to roofs; the broad plains have curious trees; bands of Indians 
troop from one town to another in curious costumes, marching along totally 
oblivious to the passing locomotive and approaching civilization, and will not 
give away to the latter any quicker than they will to the engine if they happen 
to 'be on the track when it comes along. In fact, it is hard for them to 
understand that the train cannot "keep to the right" when it meets people in 



298 

the road, and they claim the right of way from the fact that they were there 
first. 

Now the sugar country is reached. The train passes through a fine haci- 
enda and backs into Cuautla on a Y, passing and crossing an aqueduct, where 
the natives are seen bathing and washing clothes, comes to a station that was 
once a church. 

The train stops some minutes at Cuautla and there may be time for a walk 
through the little alameda, just outside of the station, where there are trees 
and flowers, a hotel where there are good wines, cofifee and lunches to be 
had. As the approach to the station has been through a grove of tropical trees 
and gardens, so is its departure, and the train continues southward through 
the cane country to Yautepec; the distant mountains enrich the scene, making 
a blue background to a lovely tropical picture that extends down to Jojutla and 
thence to Puente de Ixtla, where connection is made with the Cuernavaca division 
of the Mexican Central Railway. Near Puente de Ixtla are the famous caves of 
Cacahnamilpa. From Cuautla there is a direct line to Puebla. 

South over ths National — The murky, muddy, misnamed Rio Grande 
does not improve as it grows and goes on to the sea; it is the same insignifi- 
cant little creek here, as everywhere else that a railroad crosses it, and the 
country of the first hundred miles of Mexico equally unattractive in chaparral 
and cactus-covered plains. This desolation continues only to the Salado River, 
at Lampazos, where the mountains begin. On the right of the track, south of 
the station, is La Mesa de los Cartujanos, a mountain with a perfectly level 
top, 2, ceo feet above the plain. A narrow path, not wider than is necessary for 
a man and a mule, leads up the rugged side to the wooded and watered table 
at the top, where once was the home of a tribe of Indians, the Cartujanos, 
so called from an ancient Benedictine mission, established there two hundred 
years ago, who, strangely enough, found wood and water on the summit, when 
there was none on the plain. The route of the railway is southwesterly, fol- 
lowing what was first an Indian trail, then the King's highway, and, in later 
days, the line of march of the American armies, as they proceeded on an inva- 
sion that their greatest general has pronounced the most unhol}' and unjust 
war ever waged by a stronger on a weaker nation. The track crosses and 
recrosses the old road many times, passing Bustamente, Villaldama and Palo 
Blanco. From Villaldama a branch extends to the Guadalupe mines. The 
mountains are growing and closing in nearer the road, until the Saddle Moun- 
tain and the j\lountain of the jMitres are in view. These overlook the valley 
of Monterey, a perfectly lovely valley, with high hills on every side. At ]\Ion- 
terey is the junction of the Tampico division of the Mexican Central Ry., the 
Mexican International and the Matamoros division of the National running to 
the Gulf at the mouth of the Rio Grande, where connection is made from 
Brownsville on the American side for Texas coast cities. South from Monterey 
the road runs across the plain and enters the San Juan Valley, which grows nar- 
rower and narrower, till it becomes a canon, and the views interesting in their 
beauty anc] grandeur. Eight miles from Monterey is the village of Santa 
Catarina, with high mountains on either side. On the left, about two miles 
across the valley, high up near the top, is a hole directly through the crest, as 
if made by a monster cannon shot, and near Garcia are some caves, not seen 
from the cars, but objects of excursions from Monterey. After some miles of 
winding al:)Out, first on one side and then on the other of the noisy little San 
Juan River, the valley closes to the narrow precipitous cliffs of a canon, and 
the road comes to the table-land, and at Ramos Arispe an interesting village 
and hacienda is seen on the right. 



299 

The wider valley continues on to Saltillo, running through fertile fields and 
gardens, till after the city is passed, the road enters a more barren district. Five 
miles south, on the left, the track runs near to the battlefield of Buena Vista. 
At Saltillo connection is made with the Coahuila & Zacatecas Railway, running 
southwest to Concepcion del Oro, seventy-eight miles, and the Coahuila & Pa- 
cific division of the Mexican Central Railway westward to Torreon.^ 

It is an up-grade to Carneros, and, just beyond, on the right, is the little 
pueblo of Gomez Farias, once the home of a band of bandits. It is a roll 
from here down to the plains, passing the unimportant stations of La Ventura 
and El Salado. At Vanegas is the junction of the Vanegas, Cedral & Rio Verde 




CAVE OF CACAHUAMILPA. 

Railroad to the silver reduction works of Cedral and Matehuala, running also 
within a mile of the Real de Catorce, that formerly were reached only by 
burros from the station of Catorce, twenty miles farther on. At Catorce the 
narrow mountain path can be seen from the windows on the left. It starts 
up the mountain from the little village just at the foot of the hill, almost hidden 
by green trees. Catorce is the last stop in the Temperate Zone, the Tropic of 
Cancer being crossed just before arrival at the station of La Maroma. The 
spot is marked by a pyramid, seen on the right of the track. The route now is 
across an unbroken plain, the long stretch of track being without a curve; 
there are deflections here and there, but no curves for nearly a hundred miles. 
There are no cuts or fills, and, if danger of derailment were the only considera- 
tion, trains might make a speed of a hundred miles an hour. 

From Catorce the ride is still over what seems an almost endless plain, 



300 

until the train reaches Bocas, where there is something to see from both sides 
of the cars; on the left a beautiful hacienda, looking like a walled fortress, but 
outside the walls are some tropical gardens, all lovely with bright flowers. On 
the right, almost hidden by the trees, are two white church-like towers. This 
place, the property of the family Farias, is one of the finest haciendas in 
Mexico; it is worth a million of dollars. It is the first really fine hacienda 
seen on this route. Nearly a thousand people are employed here; nearer the 
track is a manufactory of mescal and tequila. 

After leaving Bocas the road enters the hills again, and some pretty views 
are presented, but what most interests the tourists is the approach to the city 
of San Luis Potosi. The first view is from windows on the right, and after 
passing through some fertile fields and some miles of gardens, with adobe walls 
inclosing semi-tropic fruits and vegetables, the towers of the old-time town 
are in full view against a low line of hills to the westward, and when the 
train comes to the station one concludes it is a gala day in town, as if the entire 
population, resolved into a committee of reception, had come to the station to 
meet some distinguished guest. Leaving San Luis Potosi 
station, the view is from the west windows — the two tall 
towers in the southern part of the city are those of the 
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe; going southward, the 
road enters the rich agricultural belt of Central ]\Iexico. 
The country becomes more broken and interesting, and as 
valley after valle}- is passed, it is apparent that the soil 
is here extremely productive. The population becomes 
more dense, and the vegetation increases in luxuriance. 
Villa Re3^es is passed, with the immense hacienda of Jarah, 
which, during the revolution of 1810, furnished a full regi- 
ment of cavalr}^ to assist the royalists against the armies 
of the patriots. The hacienda once controlled 20,000 peons. 
Before arriving at San Felipe a deep barranca is crossed, 
spanned by a viaduct noticeable for its height and the en- 
gineering skill displayed in its construction. San Felipe 
is a town of some 6,000 inhabitants, and is situated in the 
center of a rich farming country. The old city of Do- 
lores Hidalgo was given its surname in honor of the 
patriot. Hidalgo, the Washington of Alexico, who here sounded the watchword 
of liberty which fired the Mexican heart, and roused the whole country to arms 
to repel the power of Spain. This is a quaint old town of several thousand in- 
habitants. It has a fine plaza, and interesting churches, and the traveler is 
shown many relics of the Cura Hidalgo, which are here preserved in the old 
house which he occupied. The approach to San Miguel is from the northeast. 
The city is picturesquely located on the south side of the track, and the view 
from the left side of the cars is a beautiful one. The city is a mile away, but 
IS spread out on the side of a great hill, so tliat it cannot be hid. 
^ After San Miguel the road comes to the Canon de la Laja. The best view 
IS from the windows of the cars on the right, the waters of a little river 
sparkling under the trees hundreds of feet below the track. Across the canon 
the hills rise up high, shutting oft' the early afternoon sun; and just at a turn 
of the canon, on a jutting point of the mountain, is a cross that stands out 
against the sky, as if it was painted there. Down in the valley, here and there, 
are clusters of adobe houses, with quaint little churches, making the queerest 
little villages imaginable; some of them are very near the track on the right 
side, so close that the flying tourist has glimpses of Mexican backyard life. The 
houses are almost hidden from view by trees and vines, among which 





301 

are some oranges, lemons and bananas. There are some wonderful views all 
through the canon, making it a most interesting portion of the journey. After 
leaving the caiion the road enters a semi-tropical region, passes the enter- 
prising village and factories of Soria, seen from the west windows, and if the 
train would stop long enough, a walk through the purely Mexican town of 
San Juan de las Vegas would be amply repaid. The streets are hedged with 
giant cacti, fifteen and twenty feet high; behind, there are the adobe houses of 
the inhabitants, almost hidden by a luxuriant foliage of banana leaves and 
vines. There are forests and orange and lemon trees and some coffee trees. 
The people are purely Mexican, with not even a half-bred Spanish exception. 
At Gonzalez the trunk line of the National Railway of Mexico leads southeast- 
ward through Queretaro, in view of the great aqueduct, thence on to the city 
through a country fertile and replete with attractive scenery. 

The old route to the Capital is through a rich agricultural region to and be- 
yond Celaya, which city is on the right, and for miles the domes of the churches 
and flat-topped houses may be seen, with a high mountain for a blue back- 
ground. The National crosses the Mexican Central Railway at Celaya, and, 
having left the valley of the Laja, crosses a broken country to the valley of the 
Lerma, the longest river in Mexico, which the road crosses after passing 
Salvatierra, where there are some extensive woolen mills. At Acambaro is 
the junction of the Western Division of the National Railway with the 
main line. The city lies on the right of the road, on a plain al- 
most hidden by trees and at the base of a high mountain. If for any reason 



the train should stop long enough at Acambaro, a walk up town will repay. 
Leaving this station, the route runs more to the southeast, but follows the 
Lerma Valley, often running along its banks, sometimes near the water, and 
again high on the cliffs of a caiion. 

Maravatio is a pretty little city on the right of the track, about forty miles 
from Acambaro. A look from the windows shows the tower of an old church 
above the trees, beyond which are the low-built houses. The country now 
alternates between the finest agricultural lands and grazing plains, with some 
barren hills intervening. The Canon of the Zopolite, through which the road 
passes, presents some of the finest views of wild scenery. Just before the 
caiion is reached, on the left is shown a high cliff" from which Juan Medina, 
a noted brigand, leaped his horse to the death of both horse and rider, to 
escape the latter's capture by the pursuing soldiers. After leaving the cafioii 
the road winds about on the barren hills in such bends and curves that the 
track parallels itself two or three times, and looking from either side, that 
part of the road passed a quarter of an hour ago, or to be gone over fifteen 
minutes hence, may be seen two or three hundred yards away. Along here a 
seat on the left of the train is best. 'Way across the valley is a village, down 
by the river Lerma, almost hidden by the trees, only the white belfry of the 
church rising above tbem. This village is not out of sight for nearly an hour. 



302 

The seat on the left is best for views of the cafion, and if a careful loolcont is 
kept, the snow-capped crater of the volcano of Toluca may be seen, the 
first glimpse about the hundred-and-fortieth kilometre post, and it may be seen 
again and again, as the train reaches the top of the grades. Coming down 
into the valley of Toluca the view is best from the right side, where it seems 
to rise higher and higher above all the hills, as the road runs nearer to its base. 
The city of Toluca is in the midst of a wide, level plain, a table-land, dotted 
here and there with haciendas, showing evidence of great prosperity. The view 
of the city is from the right side of the cars. Going east from the city the route 
runs through the finest agricultural district, and along the broad highway that 
was once a paved road, with massive stone bridges, crosses the Lerma again, 
and comes to the base of the Sierra Madres and commences the climb up its 
steep sides. Looking back new, see the cities of the plain — Toluca in the dis- 
tance, and the once "great city of Lerma," the home of the brigands, now a 
mere village. Passing the suburbs of the town of Ocoyocac, the road winds 
up the mountain side till it is a thousand feet above it, when, looking down 
on the red-tiled roofs, it looks like a toy town of playhouses. The view from 




the right-hand windows and the rear platform is grand beyond description; as 
the train crawls slowly up the steep grades the panorama spreads out wider, 
and the white-capped volcano seems to follow in the wake, till the view is 
lost behind the trees. At the foot of the mountain is the river, like a silver 
ribbon; beyond, the green and fertile valley, dotted here and there with a 
hacienda or hamlet; in the far distance the snow-topped mountain, and, nestling 
at its foot, the white walls and warm, red-tiled roofs of Toluca. A few more 
turns, and the fair view is shut out, skyward; now, along the clififs of another 
canon, the train approaches the summit. At Salazar, built on a plain near the 
summit, the train halts for some ten minutes. The air is found to have become 
sharp at an altitude of nearly lo.ooo feet. Leaving Salazar, the train continues 
the ascent to La Cima. The station of La Cima is directly on the divide; the 
waters flowing east go to the lake, on the Plain of Mexico; those flowang west 
go to the Pacific Ocean, and the stream that rushes down the west side of the 
mountain, alongside of the track, is the headwaters of the River Lerma. 

From this station the descent of the eastern slope begins, and the glorious 
beauty of the noble Valley of Mexico commences to unfold. Through gaps 



303 

in the mountain wall you may catch fleeting views in the panorama, until 
finally it bursts like a vision full upon the sight; the glittering towers and 
domes of Mexico in the middle distance; a little farther, and to the left, the 
broad expanse of the waters of the lakes gleaming in the sunlight hke burnished 
silver; beyond, and overshadowing all, raising their snow-crowned heads far 
above, a coronal of rainbow-tinted clouds wreathing them about, stand, in 
majestic beauty, like guardians watching mutely over the scene, the giants of 
the valley, Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl. Could they but speak, what a his- 
tory they might unfold — the building up of cities and their throwing down; 
what opulence of power, what cruelty, crime and bloodshed. Races have come 
and gone; majestic monuments, raised by the hand of man, have crumbled 
into dust and are forgotten. They alone remain immutable, the hand of time 
dealing with them but lightly. 

Passing down the east side of the backbone of the continent, in crooks and 
turns, through the tunnel of San Martin, the train rolls rapidly along the 
side of the Monte de las Cruces, called so from the innumerable crosses erected 
over the graves of highwaymen and their victims; here on this mountain 




THE TREE DWELLERS. 



Hidalgo fought a battle with the Royalists and might have m.arched on the 
capital, but chose to retreat, and here was the turning point in his fortunes 
that cost him his life. After crossing a curved bridge over the Dos Rios, 
nearly a hundred feet high, the road comes down into the Hondo Valley. The 
village with the church, on the hill on the right, was the home of a band of 
robbers for many years. Just after passing the station there is shown, on 
the left side, an immense meteoric stone, or, "the stone that fell from the 
moon," as the natives call it. 

The ride between Toluca and the City of Mexico should by all means be 
made in daylight, as here are some of the finest views in the world. 

Now the City of Mexico is at hand, and with a few more turns the towers 
and domes are in the view. As the train rolls down the Valley of Los Reme- 
dies, the sanctuary is seen on the hill to the left; Chapultepec on the right, 
and the town of Tacuba on the left. Again, on the left, the Church of San 
Esteban, near the tree of Noche Triste, and then the fine passenger station, in 
the City of Mexico. 



304 

Westward from Acamtoaro. — As the train circles the town, the view is a 
very pretty one. Still passing through the fertile farming lands the journey 
grows more interesting with every mile, interspersing rich haciendas with 
scenery wild and weird, and after making a quick turn from between some 
hills comes suddenly in view of Lake Cuitseo. Circling round through the 
marsh at the head of the lake, where there are some salt works, the train comes 
up to, and runs along the lake shore. The view is from the north side. It is 
a fine body of water, but very shallow, with mountain islands rising up from 
the water in every direction. One of these is inhabited by a tribe of Indians 
who have no dealings with the outside world. On a little island of a few acres 
they have a little world of their own, where a hardy, healthy band of contented 
people seem entirely oblivious to all beyond the shores of their lake. The 
men are strong, sturdy fellows, who go about the lakes in long canoes and 
take, with a pole-net, the little white minnow-like fish on which they subsist; 
dried in the sun, they are ready to be eaten. The women are fine specimens, 
looking as if they might be warriors too, if their little island was attacked, but 
seem happy in the little thatched huts that are their homes. The waters are 
covered with thousands of water fowl of all kinds, and there is excellent 
shooting. 

Near Querendaro, just beyond the station on the lake shore, on the right, 
see the columns of steam rising from the marshes. These are springs of hot 
water, hot enough to boil an egg hard in a few moments. In the thick brush 
near the track the Indians have made bathing-pools and come here to bathe, 
and the fame of the cures is great. On the bushes and sticking in the ground 
around the pools are hundreds of little crosses, made by two sticks tied to- 
gether, left there by grateful patients who have been cured of their ills by the 
waters. The ground all about the springs seems to be a mere crust, sounds 
hollow, and sinks under the weight of a person walking near the springs. 
There is a strong smell of sulphur, and whether this is only an upper crust of 
his Satanic majesty's domain may be surmised. 

From Lake Cuitseo to Morelia the route crooks and turns through fertile 
lands, passing fine haciendas and pretty villages, crossing valleys where per- 
petual running streams keep the fields and gardens green from summer to win- 
ter and winter to summer. When the reaping of one crop is accomplished 
another is planted, and large yields of corn, wheat and barley are made. 

From the right side of the cars a "saddle" mountain is seen all the way from 
Lake Cuitseo. It lies just north of the suburbs of INIorelia, and is a landmark 
showing the location of that city. 

The tops of the towers in the city of INIorelia may be seen rising above the 
low intervening hills, while the train is yet some miles away. The city is on 
the left of the track, but a seat on the right is best. The track runs along the 
river bank for a mile or two, and there are hundreds of Indian women wash- 
ing clothes. These with their children, and the men waiting to let their wives 
carry the laundry home, make an interesting scene. 

The ride from the city to the western terminus of the Mexican National 
at Uruapan, is picturesque to a degree. From the left windows you see the 
Cuincho waterfall, where there are also some hot springs with water at a tem- 
perature sometimes reaching a hundred degrees. 

The first view of Lake Patzcuaro is from the right-hand side of the cars, 
and after making some curves on the hillside high above the barranca, the train 
comes down to the shore of the lake, where there is a hacienda hotel near 
the station. 

The city of Patzcuaro is two miles from the station, located high on the 
hills, from whence is a view of exceeding beauty. Miles of the lake, dotted 



305 

with its dozens of islands, and the valley with nearly fifty towns and their white- 
domed churches, illustrate a lovely panorama. 

Westward from Patzcuaro the line extends to Uruapam, a primitive Mexi- 
can town that is not like any other; here is the center of a fertile fruit district 
and the finest coffee country on the west slope. 

The Mexican Northern Railway runs northeast from Escalon, on the 
Mexican Central Railway, to the Sierra Mojada mining district, 78 miles. 

The Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific Railway starts at Ciudad 
Juarez, opposite El Paso, and runs southwesterly to Terrazas, 155 miles, with 
an ultimate destination on the Pacific coast. 

The Yaqui gold fields are reached by the "Corralitos" road, as it is called. 



SIERRA MOJADA, MEXICAN NORTHERN RAILWAY. 

The mineral belt extending along this road, both east and west, from San Bias 
to Casas Grandes, is extraordinarily rich in the ores of silver, copper, lead and 
gold. Many mines in this territory have been worked for centuries, by the 
Spaniards, then by Mexicans and Indians, and are now being worked by 
Americans. It is only recently, however, that placer gold and marvelously rich 
gold veins have been known to exist in this section. The climate is delightful. 
Great palm trees, thirty to fifty feet high, grow green in the caiion of the Rio 
de Aros and southward, and flowers bloom there in January while the Can- 
delaria peaks are perhaps covered with snow. It is a mile straight down, one to 
the other, but the linear distance may be covered in three hours or less. The 



306 



train leaves El Paso at a convenient hour in the morning, and arrives at Casas 
Grandes early in the afternoon. 

The Coahuila & Pacific division of the Mexican Central extends from 
Saltillo on the National to Torreon on the Central, passing through the wine 
regions of Parras and an otherwise fertile district. 

The Coahttila & Zacatecas Railway runs southwest from Saltillo on the 
Mexican National to Concepcion del Oro, seventy-eight miles. 

South over the Southern. — Through the south of Mexico, from Puebla 
to Oaxaca, runs the Mexican Southern Railroad, with an ultimate destination 
at Tehuantepec, or at the deep water harbor of Salina Cruz, on the Pacific 
Coast. The road penetrates the rich regions of one of the richest sections of 
the Republic, a territory with a wealth of timber and mineral resources in 
the mountain districts, and illimitable beds of marble and onyx. In the low- 
land valleys cane and coffee grow with wildest luxuriance, and all the fruits 
of the tropics are found in the fields of the haciendas along the line. 

The products of the contiguous territory must contribute to a local traffic 
that will enter largely into increased earnings as mines and quarries are opened, 
and when all the sugar and coffee lands are put under cultivation, while the 
route of the road is geographically in the line that must be taken by the 
"backbone railroad" from North to South America, and while that plan is 
being promoted, this section is already built and operated, and in the near 
future the Mexican Southern Railroad will offer the shortest route, for through 
business, from the interior of the two Republics to the west coast of Central 
and South America. 

Unlike any other railroad in Mexico, the Southern does not run high on the 
table-lands, and along the mountain sides, but follows the valleys, and, from a 
scenic point of view, offers an innovation to the travelers of other lines that 
have looked down on the valleys below the tracks, till they came here to travel 
through the valleys, and through one canon and barranca after another, look- 
ing up to the overhanging cliffs and towering peaks that close in about the 
roadway till it seems there is hardly room to pass between them. Here are 
the ever-running rivers to complete the innovation from the dry, rocky beds 

of the rainy-season rivers of other sections. 
The route of these rivers is the route of the 
road, and the two are companions, hardly out 
of sight of each other for many miles. Leav- 
ing Puebla the Mexican Southern Railroad 
runs almost due east, parallel with the line of 
the Interoceanic Railway^ across the plain as far 
as Amozoc; at Amozoc the people make the 
enormous spurs affected by the Mexican horse- 
men, and other fine saddlery hardware; spurs 
and toy flat irons are brought to the passing 
trains and sold as souvenirs. This should be 
called the Valley of Churches. Look where 
you will, the tiled domes rise above J:he plain. 
They are in the villages, north, east, 
south and west, and every hacienda 
has one of its own — picturesque to 
a degree, with the polished tiles of 
many colors, as in the Puebla Val- 
ley and around Cholula. Looking 
backward, as the train leaves the 
handsome station in Puebla, there 




"■* 



307 



is a view of the city, the forts of the surrounding hills, and beyond them, to the 
westward, the pyramid of Cholula ; further, high against the western sky, the 
Volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl ; and, to the northward, old Malintzi, 
and the Cerro del Tecolote; then, a little to the east of north, the sharp, white 

peak of Orizaba, rising 
above the hill of Ama- 
luca. Is there a view like 
this, anywhere, that may 
be seen from the windows 
of a passenger car? 
Where? 

It is a slightly ascend- 
ing grade from Puebla, 
with an altitude of 7,093 
feet to Amozoc, at 7,295 
feet above the sea, and 
after leaving that station 
it is as constantly descend- 
ing, for more than a hun- 
dred and thirty-five miles, 
to Quiotepec, and then it 
is up hill to Las Sedas, 
and, again, down hill to 
Oaxaca. Of course there 
are ups and downs of 
track, but the average as- 
cents and descents are as 
mentioned. After Amozoc 
the first town of impor- 
tance is Tepeaca, on the 
left of the track, with the 
towers of a grand old 
church, high above the 
houses and the trees sur- 
rounding it. The station 
of Rosendo Marquez was 
named for a prominent 
Mexican and former Gov- 
ernor of the State of 
Puebla. 

Tecamachslco is a pic- 
turesque old town, lying 
on a hill to the north of 
the track. The road from 
it to the town skirts the 
hill above the intervening 
little valley, or, we may 
call it a street, since it 

MITLA— ENTRANCE TO THE SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER. Icads from the OthcrS of 

the town, that wind about 
among the adobe houses. The picture is not exactly like any other in Mexico. 
Around Las Animas the prickly-pear does not grow, or, at least, not as 




308 

much as elsewhere. Here it is the "organo/' the full-grown plant greatly 
resembling the pipes of the church organ, and it is most aptly named. Here 
also is that variety from which the ixtle fibre is taken. It is a succession of 
rich valleys and nature's great terraces, the table-lands, that the road passes 
through along here, dropping from one to the other, by gradual descent, that 
is shown by the easy running of the train, and a rising temperature. Passing 
the stations of Tlalcotepec and Carnero, the important city of Tehuacan is 
next on the line. The station at Tehuacan and the city are on the east side 
of the track. It is a very pretty little city, its streets, with a row of trees 
through the center, running at right angles, and passing through pretty plazas, 
where there are other over-hanging trees, growing with a tropic luxuriance. 
It is the "Street of Democracy" that leads from the station to the Plaza 




PARISH CHURCH, OAXACA. 

Mayor. The low-walled houses on either side have their patios filled with 
flowers, and on the outer walls curiously curled brackets hold the old-fash- 
ioned street lamps. On one side of the plaza is the principal church of 
the place, on another the portales, on the others stores and residences. In 
the center, in the dense shade of the trees, is a handsome music stand, em- 
bowered in flowers. The outer walks of the plaza are paved with stone. 
There are seats on either side, and on other walks leading in and out among 
the trees and flowers. Near the plaza is a curious old market, and a more 
curious old convent-looking church with a garden behind the high walls 
surrounding it. Opposite the market is the College of Arts, and near by an 
abandoned church, now used as a barrack for a company of rurales. 

Tehuacan is on the ridge of a great water shed from which flow the rivers 



309 

to the Gulf and to the Pacific, and in the center of a rich agricultural dis- 
trict. It is the market for the surrounding villages and haciendas. This rich 
valley tempted the building of a railroad to Esperanza on the Mexican 
Railway, but it was wholly inadequate to the traffic, and since the building 
of the Southern road there has been a largely increased trade. 

After leaving Tehuacan, the view from the windows on the left is full of 
interest. The city's white walls and towers gleam through and over the 
trees. The plain spreads away to the mountains beyond, and not far away 
they break ofif in great cliffs of rocks some hundreds of feet high, that are 
in the view for miles and miles. As the track curves about the plain, the 
picture is constantly changing in shapes and colors, for the rocks are stained 
in all the colors by the oozings through of the metals of the earth coursing 
down the cliff, that seem cut in huge columns, as might have been in some 
prehistoric battlements of an ancient fortress. Here also, just below the city, 
is a castle-like monastery on a pyramid near a high-walled panteon. The 
monastery may have extracted its Pompeiian colors from the cliffs just be- 
yond, that are so full, of color. Pass- 
ing down the plain, southeasterly, 
the track runs near a 
little stream that grows 
larger as it winds in 




ON THE ROAD TO MITLA. 

and out among the hills. The stations on this table-land are La Huerta, 
Santa Cruz, Pantzingo, Nopala and Venta Salada. Near Pantzingo is one 
of the most curious freaks of irrigation engineering, the water from springs in 
the upper terrace is brought to the edge and falls in little cascades to the 
fields below. Seen from the windows on the west side. Near San An- 
tonio the road enters the Caiion del Rio Salado, which is but the 
beginning of the great Caiion de los Cues, through which it runs 
to the town of Tecomavaca. The scenery through this caiion is grandly 
picturesque, resembling that of the great Marshall Pass in Colo- 
rado, the track running at the bottom of. the cafion, right along the 
banks of a rushing, roaring river. The mountains are lifted up thousand's 
of feet, in peaks and crags, that the storms have cut into fantastic shapes. 
Their walled sides drop perpendicularly to the water's edge, and close in 
upon the river and the road till the passenger doubts, in his mind, how either 
will find the way out, till the train dashes through a little tunnel, that is only 
a wink of darkness, and the river tumbles over some high rocks, at the point 
of the rocks, and runs alongside again. Here is a curious freak of the 
scenery; we have been riding along a stream whose waters run to the south, 
the train passes through a cutting, across a bridge, and comes to the river 
again, but the waters are running to the north. There are two rivers; the 
one running south is the Rio Salado, the other, the Rio Grande. They come 



310 

together behind a hill, close by, and form the Rio Quiotepec which is the head 
water of the Rio tapaloapan. And here at Quiotepec is the lowest point on 
the line, the altitude being only 1,768 feet above the sea; the ascending 
grade commences, and it is almost a steady climb through the Canon of 
Tomellin, along the river bank, still with high towering mountains on either 
side. The station at Cuicatlan is in the midst of tropical verdure. There 
is little of the village in view at the station, but, just after leaving it, a look 
back will show the picturesque little town on the hill above the track. 

At Tomellin the river is crossed and left behind, and the train now begins 
to ascend the valley of its tributary, the Tomellin or Rio de San Antonio. 
The scenery of Tomellin is picturesque. The little river is very pretty, the 
green trees invite to cooling shades, bright plumaged birds chatter in the 
branches, but beyond all this, Tomellin is to be remembered — Tomellin is 
the dinner station. And such a dinner! Appreciated perhaps all the more, 
because so absolutely unexpected in this far-away country; for this it may 
be remembered, yet more than all for the very excellence of it. It could be 
a model for very many dinner stations some thousands of miles nearer home. 
If 3^ou dine at Tomellin, you'll not forget or regret it, and perhaps you will 
want to carry some of the dinner along for supper. As this is written in 
1908 it is hoped that "Dick," the Chinaman, may live the century through 
and the next one too, and that this paragraph may never have to be changed. 

Hence, for seme miles, it is an up-hill ride through the cafion still, with 
scenery wild and weird on either side of the road, passing the stations of 
Almoloyas, Santa Catarina, Parian, arriving at the summit at Las Sedas, 
where there is one of the grandest views of all the grand views of this scenic 
line. From the windows on the right the panorama extends far down the 
valley, and across it to the far-away pictures among the mountains, range 
after range rising one above the other, the deep blue of the nearer ones 
fading a little to those just beyond, and fading again till they seem to blend 
into the sky, the sun tingeing each with a different hue, and on the range 
near by, marking the white line of a mountain road that crosses to the val- 
leys on the other side. 

The grade is downward, and it is only a roll down past Huitzo to Etla, 
a pretty little village on a hill eastward from the road, showing picturesquely 
from the windows on the left. Etla is a town of fiestas, to which the pil • 
grims come from far and near, as they do to Amecameca and Guadalupe, 
and scarcely in fewer numbers. The old church is on the very top of the 
hill, fronting the pretty little plaza, where the fiestas are held, and back of 
it is a very ancient aqueduct of high arches extending into the mountains, 
bringing a supply of fresh water to the village. It is a wide, open country 
that the road runs through, the rich valleys extending to the hills on both 
sides, dotted here and there with haciendas, that, with their great houses, 
granaries and churches, are villages in themselves, and remind one of the 
principalities we have read of in the old feudal ages. Across the valley, to 
the west, the mountain breaks off in palisades; on the east it slopes to blue 
mountains. Thus the ride is, with much to see from either side, or back to 
the hills just climbed over. There has not been a moment of monotony in 
all the journey, at the end of which there are anticipations of newer nov- 
elties in this, to us, hitherto unseen city, and while we are only leaving the 
little town of Etla, and its outlying haciendas, just down the valley there 
are the towers of Oaxaca. 

South over the Cuemavaca Division Mexican Central — The route is not 
over the old diligencia road across the Plain of Mexico, but over one equally 
as attractive, and while the style of travel may not be as antiquely pictur- 



311 



esque as on the rumbling, dust-covered diligencia, the scenery is equally 
as fine, and there is a deal more of comfort. 

Trains leave from the Buena Vista station of the Mexican Central Rail- 
way, in the City of Mexico, circling the western suburbs, running through 
the grounds of the Agricultural school, Nextitla, Tacuba, San Juanico, and 
Santa Julia, a flag station. This place will be an important one. It was a 
regular hacienda before, and the owners have fractioned the grounds and 
sold them in lots. The "Colegio Salesiano" is now in construction. This 
Catholic institution is devoted to poor boys, and is supported by charity of 
Mexican families. It is provided with shops of all kinds. After leaving Santa 
Julia the road crosses, in a straight angle, the main line of the Mexican Na- 
tional Railroad, and reaches the Morales flour mill, after which it runs through 
the grounds of "Molino del Rey," the Mexican Government's arm factory, 
in the surroundings of which the battle with the United States army took 
place in 1847. There are still some remains of the defenses built by the 
Mexican army. On the left-hand side, and about half a mile from the track, 
is the magnificent castle of Chapultepec, with its great groves and architectural 
solidity. It was the ancient dwelling of Aztec kings, and the present resi- 
dence of the President of the Republic. From this place on, the splendid 
views of the Valley 
of Mexico begin to 
develop, until the 
heights of Ajusco 
are reached. The 
next point of interest 
is Tacubaya. It has 
a population of 
about 20,000, and is 
the most important 
suburban town of 
Mex i c o , where 
wealthy men from 
the city have built 
magnificent houses 
and gardens for 
their summer re- 
sorts. From the sta- 
tion of Tacubaya there is a small branch to the Valdes and Santo Domingo 
flour mills. These mills use the waters supplying Tacubaya and the City of 
Mexico as motive power. 

Mixcoac is a small town, but an important one of the valley, on account 
of its topographical situation, healthful climate, and abundant water. The 
principal industry of the natives is the cultivation of flowers, a great number 
of them being taken to the City of Mexico for daily sale. Mixcoac, as well 
as Tacubaya, is connected with the city by this road, by the Federal District 
electric cars. 

At 500 metres from the station the road passes by the door of ''Hacienda 
de la Castafieda," a place of amusement, with large gardens. Balls as well 
as other amusements take place every Sunday. 

El Olivar is the residence of the Catholic clergy. Near the station 
there is another flour mill, and several factories of cotton goods and paper. 
The line runs through the small town of San Geronimo, devoted to the 
cultivation of fruit, especially strawberries. It is remarkable to see the work 
the natives have done in order to adapt these grounds for cultivation, as 




312 

all has been formed within dry walls and filled with vegetable earth, hauled 
from long distances. The town is well supplied with water for irrigation. 
A little further on the road passes the "Lomas de Padierna," where a battle 
with the United States army took place. Near the track there is a small 
monument, erected to the memory of the soldiers who fell in that battle. In 
making the grading works some pieces of uniforms with buttons of the 
two armies were discovered. 

Cotitreras is the oldest factory of .cotton goods established in the Valley 
of Mexico. The greater part of the people from the town of La Magdalena 
are employed here. The factory is moved by the water of La Canada River, 
and is situated at the entrance of a long and narrow cafion. Ever since the 
road was completed foreigners have chosen this place for Sunday excursions. 
The Cafiada Caiion is one of the most picturesque of the Republic. Its vege- 




HACIENDA AT MITLA. 

tation is tropical, notwithstanding the elevation, and in winter, when the vege- 
tation of the valley is dead, that of the Canada is as exuberant as that of the 
tierra caHente. 

After leaving Contreras the road passes through the lands of San Nicolas, 
arriving at the flag station of Eslava, situated on one side of the hacienda 
of the same name. A mile beyond the road enters on a tract thickly cov- 
ered with volcanic stone, thrown away a long time since by the volcano of 
Ajusco. The grounds have a very original aspect, it has not been neces- 
sary to make any works for letting rain water run out. The ground is so 
porous that all the water filters in. and afterwards appears at the bottom of 
the mountains in a dozen crystal springs. 

Near the 40-kilomctre post it was necessary to make two big cuts, and 
one of the biggest fills in the country. To give an idea of its magnitude, it 
is enough to say that it may be seen distinctly from the City of Mexico, and 



313 

for its construction it was necessary to remove an amount of material ex- 
ceeding gOjOGO cubic metres. From this point may be clearly seen the Valley 
of Mexico in the whole extension, the lakes of Texcoco, Chalco and Xochi- 
milco, all the small towns of the valley, and the volcanoes with their white 
peaks. It is one of the most picturesque views of the road. The elevation of 
this place is 1,657 feet above the City of Mexico, and 9,006 feet above the sea. 

The road continues ascending through the chains of mountains, and ar- 
rives at the station of Ajusco, at an elevation of 9,318 feet. The sta,tion is 
situated in the lower part of the town of Ajusco. 

The next station is La Cima, the summit, at an elevation of 9,895 feet 
above the sea. This is the highest point of the line. From this place the 




PATIO OF HACIENDA, AT MITLA. 

line begins to descend, passing, at 66 kilometres, the dividing line between 
the Federal District and the State of Morelos. From this station to Cuer- 
navaca, by straight line, is thirteen miles, but on account of the mountainous 
country the road distance is thirty-eight miles. 

Fierro Del Toro, at an elevation of 9,665 feet above the sea, is sit- 
uated at the entrance of the magnificent forest of Huitzilac. The road con- 
tinues on the top of the mountains to Tres . Marias, named for the three 
near by peaks. After passing this point, the hills and valleys of the productive 
State of Morelos may be seen, with the city of Cuernavaca and the numerous 
haciendas where they cultivate the sugar cane and tropical fruits. 

After Coajomulco, the line passes San Juanico. Near this place there are 
some very high stone hills, in the highest of which there are some ruins 
called the "Gran Tepoxteco." This is a remarkable construction on account 



314 

of the difficulties the Indians must have had to take up the materials to such 
a height, about 600 feet vertical. Some idols are still to be seen there. Ac- 
cess to the mountains is very difficult. Horse back from El Parque. 

At the lower part of San Juanico Mountains, and not very far from the 
track, the town of "San Miguel de la Cal" is situated, where there is a de- 
posit of natural lime, ready for use; it is probably the only one of such 
magnitude in the Republic. 

From San Juanico the line runs to the west, touching the towns of Santa 
Maria. Chamilpa, Ocotepec and Ahuatepec, and comes to the city of 

Cueruavaca, capital of the State, with a population of 16,000 inhabitants; 
elevation 4,960 feet above the level of the sea. It is built upon a hill between 




THE FEATHERED SERPENT. XOCHICALCO. 

two large depressions of ground, which make two ravines that unite outside 
of the southern extremity of the town. From any of the culminating points 
of Cuernavaca the eye embraces the territory of the State in its widest ex- 
tent, its inner chains as well as its mountainous boundary. To the north is 
the long range of Ajusco with its ramihcations, whose offshoots, known as 
the mountains of Tepoxtlan. rise in fantastic shapes, whilst the snowy peaks 
of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl tower loftily in the background. The large 
sugar plantations and plantain farms, with which the country is filled, together 
with the luxuriant vegetation surrounding them, reveal the fertility of the 
soil of this essentially agricultural State. The town proper contains more 



315 

than 500 houses, besides the cottages in the suburbs, with their orchards 
and gardens. It has more than sixty streets and alleys, five plazas, five 
churches, the most important being the Parish Church, which, like that of 
Tula, in the State of Hidalgo, is very old and its exterior appearance that 
of a fortress. Among the public buildings may be mentioned the old palace 
of Cortez, now occupied by the State Government, the Literary Institute, the 
Porfirio Diaz Theatre, the Hospital and the Barracks; the Post Office and 
the Telegraph Office are all that is modern. 

After leaving Cuernavaca the descent of the Pacific slope continues. The 
scenery is grand beyond description, from one vantage point almost the 
entire State of Morelos is within the range of vision. 




RUINS OF TEPOXTECO. 

At Puente de Ixtla the tracks of the Interoceanic Railway are connected, 
thus forming a circle immediately south of the Capital with a wealth of scenic 
grandeur not surpassed anywhere in the world. A trip out on the M. C. & 
P. Ry., and back over the Interoceanic, or vice versa, is a fine one that must 
not be neglected by the traveler. Near the junction of the two roads are 
the famous caverns of Cacahuamilpa. The fine scenery continues to Iguala, 
to where the road was completed in 1898. Thence towards Acapulco down to 
the Rio Balsas, the present terminus, the wild mountainous district renders 
the ride one of intense interest to the lover of the picturesque. 

The Michoacan & Pacific Division of the National Railway of 
Mexico runs west from the town .of Maravatio, on the Mexican National 
Railroad thirty-three miles to Ocampo, and fifty-seven miles to Zitacuaro, 

The Monterey Division of the Mexican Central extends from 
Gomez Palacio on the main line to Trevifio and Monterey, thence 



316 

southeast to the Gulf of Mexico, at Tampico, crossing the Mexican National 
Railroad at Monterey. 

South from Trevino the road runs for some distance through an unin- 
teresting district, but the barren hills and plains become verdure-clad and there 
are fertile valleys fartJier south; above Monterey the picturesque region begins 
and continues to the lovely valley in which that city lies, coming to it at 
the north and leaving it at the south side. 

Approaching jNIonterey the best views are from the windows on the west 
side, showing the Mountain of the Mitres and the Saddle Mountain, on the 
far side of the valley, with the beautiful city at the base, almost hidden by 
the tall trees, only the tow^ers showing above them. It is not all romance 
and antiquity at j\Ionterey. In every view the more prosaic chimney stack 
of a smelter, factory or brewery stands in line with the church tower of the 
olden days. Monterey has probably made greater advancement than any 
other Mexican city as a manufacturing centre. There are establishments of 
almost every branch of trade, some of the most extensive ore smelters in 
the country, and the brewery making the famous Cuautemoc beer from the pure 
waters of the Monterey Valley. 

South from Monterey this direct line to the Gulf continues through 
a very fertile country, passing from one valley to another, the products chang- 
ing with the climate southward, from the fruits and cereals of the tempe- 
rate zone, to the cane and cotton and tropic fruits of the tierra caliente; 
from the familiar forests of our own land to the hard woods of the warmer 
countries. The builders of this road boast the use of ebony for ties; cer- 
tainly there are some now under the rails cut within hauling distance of the 
track. There is merchantable mahogany, rosewood and other close-grained 
timber in demand for the finer uses in the arts. Another of the products 
of this region is a beautiful black marble, without a seam or gleam of w^hite, 
or other color than its own inky blackness. This and a hard gray stone are 
used in the company's handsome stations, at Monterey and other points 
on the line. 

At San Juan there is a picnic ground, with a dancing pavilion. In a grove 
of trees near a clear running stream. On the right of the track is a native 
"fonda," side by side with the "Two Republicks" restaurant; on the other 
side some thatched huts, In queer contrast with the big brick kiln near -by. It 
is a well watered country that this one, unlike the other roads of Mexico, 
runs through. The running streams are seen In little rivulets, creeks and 
rivers of more pretentious proportions than is usual in this country, and 
the prospect Is necessarily different from most of the other railway lines. 

Mofltemorelos, seen from the windows on the west, is a city of some 
16,000 inhabitants, founded in the year 1749, about which time the first church 
of the town was built. The only work of art Is a painting "Pensador Mexi- 
cano," by Sehor Don Eduardo Lizardi. There are two Protestant churches, 
Presbyterian and Baptist. The former was founded by Sehor Leandro Garza 
Mora, In 1862; the latter by ]\Ir. Thomas Westrup, In 1869. 

Linares is a flourishing town in the sugar belt, on the head waters of the 
Rio Tigre, sometimes called the Conchas. The sugar industry of this sec- 
tion has been greatly promoted by the advent of the railroad, and the im- 
portation of modern machinery. On the right, far across the plain, is a 
high mountain that a bright, gossipy correspondent has called the "Sombrero," 
and with great excuse, for no matter what Its other name may be, it will 
be recognized at once as a "sombrero." The immense crown of the peak, 
and wide, spreading brim of the foothills, are in sight during all the journey 
down to Tampico. 



317 



Victoria is the capital of the State of Tamaulipas, founded in 1750. Its 
population ranges from 11,000 to 12,000. The altitude of the town is 1,180 
feet above the sea level, and is located at the 2.2,° 42' 54" latitude, and 
0° 01' 02" longitude, east of the meridian of Mexico. The climate is almost 
perfect, there being neither excessive heat in summer, nor are the winters 
in any degree severe. Oranges, limes, bananas, pineapples, grapes, and in fact 
all the tropical products are grown in profusion in this locality. There are 
three churches in the city, two Catholic and one Protestant. One of the for- 
mer is the Cathedral; its construction dates from the foundation of the town, 
and is still in an unfinished condition. The erection of the other was com- 
menced at a comparatively recent date, and of the more modern style of 
church architecture. The Protestant church is a very unpretending place 
of worship, it being merely a missionary headquarters. 




■(»*"*»«!"*£ 




CITY AND BAY, GUAYMAS, MEXICO, SONORA RAILWAY. 

Among the points of interest to the tourist may be mentioned the park 
"Pedro Jose Mendez," containmg many rare and beautiful plants and shrub- 
bery. This lovely resort is situated at the southern end of the Alameda. 
The Alameda is an elegant drive and promenade, with a row of fine trees 
on each side, extending for a distance of over two miles. The governor's 
residence and state house of representatives is situated on the Alameda, as 
are also many beautiful private residences, all of which go to make La Ciu- 
dad de Victoria a very attractive place among the comparatively newer order 
of cities of Mexico. 

It is a descending grade with long stretches of level track across an open 
country, hence to Tampico, with here and there patches of tropic verdure, 
outlying groves of the more extended forests that are over the hills towards 
the coast, and in the valleys to the west of the road. 

The Tampico terminals of the line comprise extensive wharves at deep 



318 ^ 

water, where the largest ships come alongside. The freight j^ards are ample) 
and the track connections with the San Luis Potosi division complete. / 

South over the Soiiora Railway.— The State of Sonora is noted for 
its great agricultural resources. The principal staple is the famous sweet 
orange grown in the luxuriant orchards of Hermosillo and Guaymas. 
Wheat, corn, beans, alfalfa, cotton, sugar cane, tobacco and other agricul- 
tural products are cultivated in great quantities. Wheat is sometimes ex- 
ported to England and to Mexican eastern markets. Flour is constantly sent 
to the States of Sinaloa and Lower California and now to other Mexican 
states. Cattle are numerous in middle and northern Sonora, are exported to 
Lower California and to the United States. Mines are abundant and very 
rich, and the mining industry is well developed all over the State. Vast 
amounts of rich silver ore are taken to United States smelters. 

The Sonora Railway, crossing the State in a northerly direction from Guay- 
mas to Nogales, boasts of being the first international railroad built and 
operated between Mexico and the United States. It is 265 miles long and 
standard gauge. The first tie was laid in the early part of 1880, and last 
spike driven in October, 1882. 

There are several periodicals and newspapers published in Nogales, Mag- 
dalena, Altar, Ures, Hermosillo, Alamos and Guaymas. "El Trafico," of Guay- 
mas is one of the largest in the Republic of J\Iexico and has a very wide 
circulation at home and abroad. 

The State of Sonora is noted for the beauty of its scenery of land and sea. 

Nogales, with about 3,000 inhabitants, is a thriving double town of the 
boundary line, half of it lying in Arizona Territor}^ the other portion in 
the State of Sonora. On the American side can be seen several fine business 
houses, hotels and factories, while on the other side there are some fine 
shops, stores and private residences. The Mexican Custom House is an 
imposing stone building. The town of Nogales is very enterprising, well 
provided with public schools, and has water works and electric light. 

Just south of Nogales the tourist can admire the beautiful Casita Cafion, 
dotted with superb trees and shrubbery, intersected by several streams of 
clear water running alcng the route of the railroad. 

From Casita south to Santa Ana the country is all under cultivation, large 
farms alternating with orchards and vegetable gardens. The town of ^Mag- 
dalena. with 4,000 inhabitants, is quite renowned, it being the rendezvous 
of thousands of pilgrims from Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango in ]\Iexico, 
and from Arizona, California and New Mexico in the United States, all go- 
ing to ]\Iagdalena to pray to San Francisco's image, on the fourth of Oc- 
tober every year. 

Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and the seat of the Catholic diocese, 
possesses a magnificent government capitol. a fine new cathedral, and a small 
but nice Protestant church, the national mint, one of the best modern flour 
mills, a beautiful depot and several other elegant public and private build- 
ings. The Plaza of Hermosillo is the largest and handsomest in Sonora. 
The population exceeds 10,000 people. The district of Hermosillo is noted 
for its splendid agricultural and mining surroundings, the railroad crossing 
exuberant orange groves, vegetable farms and flower gardens. 

Guaymas, the home of the Sonora Railway, is a city of over 8,000 in- 
habitants, all very enterprising and progressive. The foreign element is quite 
important and of high standing. Guaymas is a great commercial place and 
the feeder of Sonora, Lower California, Sinaloa and Colima, the Sonera 
Railway facilitating the imports and exports from and to the United States, 
Europe and Eastern Mexico. 



319 

The bay of Guaymas is the best on the Mexican Pacific Coast, and one 
of the largest in all the Pacific Ocean. Marine trade is very important in 
Guaymas, and its bay is constantly visited by Mexican and foreign craft. A 
miarine railway is being built and is nearing completion. 

That the city of Guaymas is progressing rapidly, due principally to the 
opening of the Sonora Railway, is shown by the construction of a street-car 
system, two substantial brick buildings for public schools, a magnificent civil 
hospital, the new jail, an imposing stone structure, water-works system, a very 
large bonded warehouse, landings and wharves for the storage and transfer of 
foreign freight, Protestant and Catholic churches, and several other buuildings, 
factories and private residences of modern style. 

During the winter season — November to May — the temperature of Guaymas 
is unequaled in the world, well adapted for the invalid as well as for the 
tourist and sportsman. Ducks and other wild game are plentiful in the out- 
skirts of the city, and fishing, sailing, boating and bathing in the surf, are the 
niost enjoyable sports on the great Guaymas Bay. The Carnival in Guaymas 
is carried out in grand style at the same season as in New Orleans, numberless 
foreigners _ visiting the city, participating in the processions and masquerade 
balls. This line is being extended southward with an ultimate destination at 
Guadalajara, at this writing completed, to Culiacan and under construction 
southward. 

The Teltuatitepec Railroad runs from Coatzacoalcos, now called Puerto 
de Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico, to Salina Cruz, on the Pacific Coast, 192 
miles, with a branch from Juile to San Juan Evangelista. Connection at Santa 
Lucrecia with Vera Cruz and Pacific Railway and at San Geronimo with Pan- 
American Railway. The road is through a tangle of tropical forests — a most 
interesting ride over the shortest transcontinental road north of Panama. 

The harbor of Coatzacoalcos, the eastern terminus of the Tehuantepec road, 
was discovered by Cortez through charts furnished by Montezuma, but was 
never used by the Spaniards of that period — but now with its jetties and fine 
harbor works is destined to become one of the chief ports on the Gulf Coast 
of Mexico, as Salina Cruz will be one of the most important on the Pacific as 
soon as the sea walls, wharves, etc., now under construction, are completed. 

Rincon Antonio, now called Matias Roinero, is on an elevation of about 800 
feet. Here are the headquarters of the railway company, stores, shops, hospital, 
churches, and homes of the officers and employees. There is also an experi- 
mental farm where the natives are taught modern methods. Jaltipan is one of 
the larges villages on the line, and historically noted as one of birthplaces of 
Malinche, the guide and interpreter of Cortez. Way back in the days of '49 
■there was a trail over the mountains from Suchil to the Pacific Coast, and 
Commodore Vanderbilt operated a little steamboat from the Gulf, on the Coatza- 
coalcos River to Suchil, thence his stages to Salina Cruz were patronized by 
the gold seekers en route to California — one of the old stage drivers, Jim Baily, 
lives (1906) near Rincon Antonio, where he has an hacienda and a store. 
There is a large family of Baily's on the Isthmus. 

The Tehuantepec costumes are at once the most picturesque and fantastic, 
especially as applied to feminine apparel. It is an easy guess that the average 
girl uses at least one pair of lace curtains in the make-up of her holiday attire; 
the men are not so flouncy in their head gear, but they make up in wideness of 
sombrero and trouser. 

The Tehuantepec road will be double tracked in the very near future to 
promptly handle the immense traffic that is now coming on from all parts of 
the world. 



320 

The Hidalgo Division of the Mexican National Railroad runs northeast- 
ward from the City of Mexico to Pachuca, Tulancingo and Tortugas. There 
is a branch from Pachuca to Irolo where connection is made with the Mexican 
Ry. and the Interoceanic. Near San Agustin is the fine old aqueduct of 
Zempoala. 

The Mexican Central Railway Company operates a line from Man- 
zanillo, on the Paciiic Coast, to Colima, Tuxpan, Zapotlan and Guadalajara; 
also a line from Zacatecas to Guadalupe and Trancoso, 15 miles. 

The Vera Cruz & Pacific Railway connects the vast railway system 
of Mexico and the north with the Tehuantepec Railway and the Isthmus coun- 
try. Starting from its northern terminals at Vera Cruz and Cordoba the route 
is through the heart of the tropics and the scenery is wildly picturesque, trav- 
ersing as it does a country so entirely different from that of any other line in 
Mexico it is exceedingly interesting to travelers for pleasure. The country 
about Cordoba gives an idea of what is to follow. 

The same conditions, more or less, continue for about fifty miles. From 
Tierra Blanca south, the road runs through a brush and prairie country, until 
near the Papaloapam River. The bridge over the latter is the largest in the 
Republic, bridge and approaches being a mile long. The jungle around the 
Papaloapam is especially interesting. After passing through the lowlands form- 
ing the Valle Nacional, the country again becomes prairie for about fifty miles, 
but from San Marcos to Santa Lucrecia it runs through a veritable tropical 
jungle. I don't mean by this a lot of scrub and small trees, covered with morn- 
ing glories and sm.all vines, but a dense forest of palms and immense tropical 
hardwood trees, vv^ith vegetation so dense that even a foot passage through it 
must first be cut out with machetes. This is the literal truth, and you can 
form no conception of the country until after seeing it. The fact that in the 
latter district the annual rainfall is between 122 and 149 inches may give you 
some sort of an idea as to what would happen in a fertile soil. 

The road connects with the Tehuantepec National Ry. at Santa Lucrecia 
for Coatzacoalcos, Salina Cruz, Tehuantepec and other Isthmian points, and 
beyond on the Pan-American Railway for the far south of Mexico and Guate- 
mala. 

The Pan-American Railway is the beginning of the link in the realization 
of the great north and south trans-continental line that is to extend from 
Alaska to Tierra del Fuego — all the other lines are on paper — this one is on the 
earth and is in operation from San Geronimo on the Tehuantepec National, 
where connection is made with the great system of railways in Mexico and the 
United States, to the Guatemalan border, and under construction to the cities 
of Guatemala. The road runs along the Pacific slope of the Sierra jNIadre and 
within 25 or 30 miles of the coast, touching the sea at Arista by branch from 
Tonala, there are no good harbors, only open road-steads. The mountains along 
the line rise to an altitude of eight to nine thousand feet as to peaks with a lower 
average in the range, but the scenery is good. 

Near Tonala, some eight miles from the line to the eastward are the re- 
mains of an ancient city, with temples, fortresses of cut stone in the midst of 
an almost impenetrable forest, offering a rich field of adventure and research 
for the arch.Tlogically iticlincd. The whole state of Chiapas, through which 
the line passes, is dotted with relics of prc-historic cities, offering untold at- 
traction for the venturesome traveler. The climate, though warm, is altogether 
healthful. 



331 

The United States of Mexico. 

The Republic of Mexico comprises twenty-eight States, one Territory and 
the Federal District in which the national capital is located. The State Gov- 
ernments are very similar to those of the United States, having a Governor, 
Legislature, Courts, etc. The following table is interesting: 



Names of States. 



Capital. 



Area in Assessed ■r>„r^^^^o +,•«», 
square miles, value. Population. 



Aguas Calientes .Agmas Calientes 

Campeche „ , , , . Campeche. 

Coahuiia » Saltillo „ 

Colima ,,..,, Colima=,.,. 

Chiapas , . , . , . Tuxtla Guitierrez . . 

Chihuahua, , , . Chihuahua. 

Durango ,,.Durango..o» 

Guanajuato Guanajuato, 

Guerrero Chilpancingo. ... 

Hidalgo Pachuca. . . . . » 

Jalisco Guadalajara. 

Mexico Toluca.. 

Michoacan Moreliao . . » 

Morelos Cuernavaca 

Nuevo Leon Monterey 

Oaxaca Oaxaca 

Puebla Puebla 

Queretaro Queretaro 

San Luis Potcsi San Luis Potosi 

Sinaloa Culiacan 

Sonora Hermosillo 

Tabasco San Juan Bautista. 

Tamaulipas. Victoria 

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala 

Vera Cruz Jalapa 

Yucatan Merida 

Zacatecas Zacatecas 

Territory of Tepic. Tepic 

Lower California La Paz 

Federal District City of Mexico 



Totals 



3,080 


$ 6,272,375 


102,416 


20,760 


1,728,435 


86,542 


59,000 


7,152,345 


296,938 


2,700 


3,925,724 


65,115 


29,600 


4,722,823 


360,799 


89,200 


5,926,728 


■ 827,784 


42,300 


7,727,327 


870,294 


12,300 


31,005,786 


1,061,724 


22,700 


2,125,000 


479.205 


7,600 


16,078,924 


605,051 


38,400 


24,023,825 


1,158,891 


8,080 


22,127,344 


984,468 


23,000 


22,728,416 


985,808 


1,850 


17,125,572 


160,115 


25,000 


11,684,323 


827,937 


28,400 


13,127,425 


948,683 


12,600 


37,127,591 


1,021,138 


3,800 


12,062,345 


232,389 


26,100 


15,123,727 


575,432 


36, 100 


5,072,424 


296.701 


77,000 


7,623,121 


221,682 


10,000 


4,232,163 


159,834 


29,000 


7,828,822 


218,948 


1,500 


7,842,924 


172,315 


23,840 


26,232,716 


981,030 


28,400 


4,892,516 


809,908 


25,300 


16,989,728 


462,190 


530 


788,542 


150,098 


60,000 


4,894,733 


47,624 


450 


61,124,573 


541,516 


■48,590 


$409,318,296 


13,607,259 



The above figures are taken from the latest census. Preparations are being 
made for a complete census of the nation to be taken in 1910. 

For the support of the Governments of the various States there is a system 
of taxation on all foreign and domestic merchandise, as well as a direct tax 
on real and personal property. 

Each State is represented in the Congress by two Senators, elected alter- 
nately every two years, and by one member of the Chamber of Deputies for 
each 40,000 of population, and one for each fraction of more than 20,000. 

The largest State is Chihuahua, since Coahuiia was shorn of that portion 
of the domain now called Texas. Tlaxcala is the smallest State. After the Fed- 
eral District, Puebla is the wealthiest in assessed values, with Guanajuato a close 
second. The wealth of the former is, for the most part, in the silver mines; of 
the latter, in agricultural lands and onyx quarries. Campeche represents the 
smallest amount of wealth. The Federal District is to Mexico what the District 
of Columbia is to the United States witli laws administered under the direction 
of the Federal Government 



322 

LOCATION, POPULATION AND ALTITUDE OF CITIES. 



Cities. 



Acambaro 

Acapulco 

Aguas Calientes 

Ameca 

Amecaiueca ^ 

{^^ampeche 

(Datorce 

Celaya 

Chihuahua 

Ciudad Juarez 

Ciudad P. Diaz 

Coatzacoalcos 

Colima 

Cordoba 

Cuautla 

Cuernavaca 

Culiacan 

Durango 

Gomez Palacio 

Guadalajara 

Guanajuato 

Guaymas 

Hermosillo , 

Iguala 

Irapuato 

Jalapa 

Lagos 

Leon 

Lerdo 

Linares 

Maravatio 

Matamoros 

Merida 

Mexico 

Mitla . . 

Monterey 

Monelova 

Morelia 

Nuevo Laredo 

(Daxaca 

f.lrizaba 

IPachuca 

.Parral 

.Parras 

Fatzcuaro 

I 'rogreso 

1 'uebla 

(iueretaro 

Salamanca 

Haltillo 

Ivdlvatierra 

!>a.n Juan Bautista 

:5an Juan del Rio 

San Luis Potosi 

San Miguel de Allcnde 

Sayula 

Sierra Mojada 

Silao 

Tampieo 

Tehuacan 

Tehuanteptic 

'I'oluca 

'I'orreon 

Tula 

XJniapan 

Vera Cruz 

Victoria 

Zacatecas 

Zamora 

Zapotlan 



State. 



Guanajuato.... 

Guerrero 

Aguas Calientes 

Jalisco 

Mexico 

Campeohe 

San Luis Potosi 

Guanajuato 

Cliihuahua 

Chihuahua 

Coahuila 

Vera Cruz 

Colima 

Vera Cruz 

Morelos 

Morelos 

Sinaloa 

Durango 

Durango 

Jalisco 

Guanajuato 

Sonora 

Sonora 

Guerrero 

Guanajuato 

Vera Cruz 

Jalisco 

Guano juato 

Durango 

Nuevo Leon. . . . 

Blichoacan 

Tamaulipas 

Yucatan 

Distrito Federal 

Oaxaca 

Nuevo Leon 

Coahuila 

.Michoacan 

Tamaulipas 

Oaxaca 

Vera Cruz 

Hidalgo 

Chihuahua 

Coahuila 

Michoacan 

Yucatan 

Puebla 

Queretaro 

Guanajuato 

Coahuila 

Guanajuato. . . . 

Tabasco 

Queretaro 

San Luis Potnsi 

Guanajuato 

Jalisco 

Coahuila 

Guanajuato 

Tamaulipas 

Puebla 

Oaxaca 

Mexico 

Coahuila 

Hidalgo 

Michoacan 

Vera Cruz 

Tamaulipas 

Zacatecas 

Jlichoacaii 

Jalisco 



Railway. 



Mex. Nat 

. ..Mex., Cuer. & Pac... 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

Interoceanic 

U.Ry. of Yuc 

Mex. Nat 

Mex. Cen. and Mex. Nat. 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

, Mex. Int 

. . . Tehuantepec R. R. . . . 

, Mex. Cen 

, Mex. Ry 

, Interoceanic 

, -..Mex. Cen 

, Occidental 

Mex. Int , 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

Sonora , 

Sonora . , 

Mex. Cen , 

Mex. Cen 

Interoceanic 

Mex. Cen 

, Mex. Cen 

, Mex. Cen 

, Mex. ("en , 

Mex. Nat , 

Mex. Nat , 

U. Ry. of Yuc 

,Mex. Nat. and Mex. Cen 



Popula- 
tion. 



Mex. Nat. and Mex. Cen, 

Mex. Int 

Mex. Nat 

Mex. Nat 

Mex. So 

Mex. Ry 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

Coah. &Pac 

Mex. Nat 

U. Ry. of Yuc 

I. O. and Mex 

.Mex. Cen. and Mex. Nat. 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Nat 

Mex. Nat 



Mex. Cen. and Mex. Nat. 
Mex. Cen. and Mex. Nat. 

Mex. Nat 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Nor 

Mex. Cen 

Mex. Cen 

So 



.Mt 



.Mex. Nat. 
.Mex. Nat. 
.Mex. Cen. 
.Mex. Cen. 
.Mex. Nat. 
. .Mex. Ry. 
.Mex. Cen. 
.Mex. Cen. 
.Mex. Cen. 
.Mex. Cen. 



8006 

6000 

37816 

4739 

8180 

7406 

62.5i 

25.565 

30098 

8192 

12774 

15(10 

20698 

8136 

6269 

9584 

10380 

31092 

7680 

101208 

40580 

8648 

10613 

7463 

19640 

20388 

16000 

63263 

7795 

7076 

6000 

8347 

42819 

368777 

300 

62266 

6684 

38606 

8000 

35049 

33539 

37187 

16382 

6476 

7210 

4914 

98191 

38016 

13724 

23996 

11008 

10543 

8224 

60858 

12740 

7888 

12840 

1.5463 

16313 

7395 

10386 

25910 

13845 

2000 

9859 

29162 

10086 

34438 

12533 

17596 



Alti- 
tude, 
feet. 



6301 

50 

6179 

4100 

8571 

2 

9043 

5763 

4633 

3717 

702 

15 

1601 

2713 

4267 

5068 

131 

6207 

3723 

5054 

6837 

2 

672 

2411 

5655 

4608. 

6134 

5855 

3725 

1187 

6750 

26 

26 

7349 

4892 

1624 

1926 

6396 

459 

5071 

4028 

7824 

5701 

5032 

7183 

2 

7069 

5947 

5646 

5337 

5760 

51 

6252 

6121 

6035 

4474 

4749 

5829 

4 

5497 

33 

8761 

3739 

7353 

5576 

h 

1473 
8010 
5130 
4976 



Pronunciation. 



Ak-fcawi-baro. 

Ak-ka-pwW-co. 

Ah- was Cal-i-en-tees. 

Ah-may-ca. 

Ah-may-ca. mayca.. 

Cam-pee-che. 

Cah-^or-see. 

See-Z«-ya. 

Che-woiv-wa.. 

Ihe-oo-clacl War-ez 

" " Poi--/ee-rio-Dee ■.:i 
Ko-at-zah-co-aZ-cose. 
Co-Zee-mah. 
CorcZ-o-va. 
Kicout-lsi. 
Kwer-na-ra-ca. 
Koo-le-a-cau. 

DoO-J'CtHgr-o. 

Go-mez Pal-a7i-see-o. 

"\Vah-dtha-la-7iar-a. 

Wan-a-ifa/i-to. 

Wah-ee-9«as. 

Er-mo-seeZ-yo. 

E-fiTitaZ-a. 

Iv-vni-pwat-o. 

Ha-Zap-a. 

io/i-gose. 

Lay-ojfji. 

iaer-do. 

Lee-7iair-es. 

:Marry-va-fee-o. 

Mata-mo-ros. 

Merry-An. 

J/e/i-he-co. 

Jl/eeZ-lah. 

'Slow-Xe-ray. 

Mon-cZo-va. 

Jlo-raZZ-ya. 

Noo-et'-o Lah-ra2/-do- 

O-ah-Ziafc-aii. 

Or- Yy-zah-\ A. 

Pa-c/ioo-ca. 

Par-raZ. 

Par-ras. 

PoZz-quar-o. 

Pro-fif/"ess-o. 

Poo-cZ)-la. 

Kay-rt'Z-a-ro. 

Sal-a-HiOH-ca. 

Sal-feeZ-yo. 

Sal-va-tee-ej'-ra. 

San Wall)} Uah-oo-tee&-tt 

San ^ycthn del Ree-o. 

San ioo-is l^u-tt>-.s'tr. 

San Mc-gr/Z day X]-yeud-6 

S&h-yoii-la. 

See-er-ia Mo-7iad-a. 

Sec-low. 

Tam-pce-co. 

Tay-wah can. 

Tay-wan-tc pecfc 

To-Zoo-ca. 

Tory-own. 

Too-la. 

Oo-roo-ap-nn. 

Ver-a Krooze. 

Vic-^o-ri-a. 

Zak-a-<aj/-cas. 

Zani-o-ra. 

Zap-ote-Zan. 



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325 

Postal Tariff in Mexican Money, 



FOR MEXICO, UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 

First Class — Letters and all sealed parcels, 20 gramos or fraction 

thereof 5 cents 

Postal Cards 2 cents 

Postal Cards and prepaid reply 4 cents 

Second Class — Newspapers, Magazines, etc. 500 gramos or fraction.. 2 cents 
Third Class — Circulars, Books, etc., 100 gramos or fraction thereof.... 1 cent 

Fourth Class — Samples, 100 gramos or fraction thereof 1 cent 

Fifth Class— Merchandise, 460 gramos or fraction thereof 12 cents 

REGISTERED LETTERS. 

Letters or Packages in addition to postage with request for receipt 15 cents 

Without request for receipt 10 cents 

POSTAL MONEY ORDERS. 

Ten Dollars or less 10 cents 

Over $10.00 and not exceeding $ 20.00 15 cents 

Over 20.00 and not exceeding 30.00 20 cents 

Over 30.00 and not exceeding 40.00 25 cents 

Over 40.00 and not exceeding 50.00 30 cents 

Over 50.00 and not exceeding 60.00 35 cents 

Over 60. 00 and not exceeding 70.00 40 cents 

Over 70.00 and not exceeding 80.00 45 cents 

Over 80.00 and not exceeding 100.00 50 cents 

Money orders for points in Mexico must not exceed $100.00 and for the 
United States $200.00 Mexican money. 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF MEXICO. 

1 League (Legua) is 2 miles. Exact decimal, 4582.531 yards. 

1 Mile (Milla) is 1.6093 kilometers. 

1 Kilometer (Kilometro) is % of a mile. Exact decimal, .6214. 

1 Meter (Metro) is 1 yard and 3.37 inches. Exact decimal, 39.37. 

1 Vara, (Vara) is 33 inches. 

1 Foot (Pie) is 11^/^ inches. Exact decimal, .9478. 

1 Inch is in Spanish a "pulgada." 

1 Fanega is 8.8123 acres. 

1 Hectara is 2.4710 acres. 

1 Ara is 119.6033 square yards. 

1 Ton is a Tonelada. Exact decimal, .9063 of a ton. 

1 Kilo is about 2 1/5 pounds. Exact decimal, 2.2046 pounds. 

1 Libra is a fraction over a pound. Exact decimal, 1.0150 pounds. 

1 Gallon is nearly four litros. Exact decimal, 3.7852. 

1 Litro is a little more than a quart. Exact decimal, 1.0567. 

1 Cuartilla is nearly a pint. Exact decimal, .456264 litro. 

1 Carga is 2.7189 hundred weight. 

1 Quintal is about 100 pounds. Exact decimal, .9063 cwt. 

1 Arroba is about 25 pounds. Exact decimal, 25.3776. 



326 




ft PULPIT OF SANTA ROSA. QUERETARO. 



327 



Table of Terms. 



NUMBERS. 

ENGLISH, SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION„ 

One Uno, una Oo'-no. 

Two Dos Dose. 

Three Tres Trace. 

Four Cuatro Kwah'-tro. 

Five Cinco Seen'-ko. 

Six Seis Say'-is. 

Seven Siete See-ai'-te. 

Eight Ocho O'-tcho. 

Nine Nueve Noo-ev'-e. 

Ten Diez , De-eth'. 

Eleven Once On'-say. 

Twelve Doce Do'-say. 

Thirteen Trece Tray-ce. 

Fourteen Catorce Kah-tor'-say. 

Fifteen Quince Keen'-say. 

Sixteen • Diez y seis De-eth' e say'-is. 

Seventeen Diez y siete , De-eth' e see-ai'-te 

Eighteen Diez y ocho De-eth' e o'-tcho. 

Nineteen Diez y nueve De-eth' e noo-ev'-e 

Twenty Veinte Vay'-inte. 

Twenty-one, etc Veinte y uno, etc Vay'-inte e oo'-no. 

Thirty Treinta Tray-intah. 

Forty Cuarenta Kwar-en'-tah. 

Fifty Cincuenta Seen-kwen'-tah. 

Sixty Sesenta Se-sen'-tah. 

Seventy Setenta Say-ten'-tah. 

Eighty Ochenta O-chen'-tah. 

Ninety Noventa No-ven'-tah. 

Hundred, a or one Ciento . .See-en'-to. 

Two hundred Doscientos Dose-see-en'-tose. 

Three hundred Trescientos Tray-see-en'-tose. 

Four hundred Cuatrocientos Kwah-tro-see-en'-tose. 

Five hundred Quinientos. Ke-ne-en'-tose. 

Six hundred Seiscientos Sai-is-see-en'-tose. 

Seven hundred Setecientos Sai-tay-see-en'-tose. 

Eight hundred Ochocientos O-cho-see-en'-tose. 

Nine hundred Novecientos No-vay-see-en'-tose 

Thousand, a or one Mil Meel. 

Two thousand Dos mil Dose meel. 

Eleven hundred Mil ciento Meel see-ain'-tose. 

Hundred thousand Cien mil See-en' meel. 

Million; Un millon Un milyon. 



328 
ORDINAL NUMBERS. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

First Primero Prim-mer'-ro. 

Second Segundo Say-goon'-do. 

Third Tercero Ter-sere'-o. 

Fourth Cuarto Kwar'-to. 

Fifth Quinto Keen'-to. 

Sixth Sexto Seks'-to. 

Seventh Septimo Sep'-te-n7o. 

Eighth Octavo Ok-tah'-vo. 

Ninth Noveno, or nono No-vay'-no. 

Tenth Decimo Day '-see-mo. 

MONTHS. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

January Enero Eh-ner'-ro. 

February Febrero Feh-brer'-ro. 

March Marzo Mar'-zo. 

April Abril Ah-breel'. 

May Mayo Mah'-yo. 

June Junio Hoo'-ne-o. 

July Julio Hoo'-le-o. 

August .' Agosto Ah-go'-sto. 

September Setiembre Seh— te-em'-bray. 

October Octubre . .Ok-too'-bray. 

November Noviembre No-ve-em'-bray. 

December Diciembre De-the-em'-bray. 

DAYS OF THE WEEK. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Monday Lunes Loo'-nes. 

Tuesday Martes Mar'-tes. 

Wednesday Miercoles Me-er'-ko-les. 

Thursday Jueves Hu-ev^es. 

Friday Viernes Ve-ere'-nes. 

Saturday Sabado Sah'-bah-do. 

Sunday Domingo Do-meen'-go. 

TIME. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCI.^TION. 

Day Dia De-ah'. 

Morning Mariana Man-yah'-nah. 

Noon Medio dia ]\Iay'-deo de'-ah. 

Afternoon Tarde Tar'-day. 

Evening Tardecita Tar'-day-see'-tah. 

Night Noche No'-tchay. 

Midnight Media noche May'-de-ah no'-tchay. 

Yesterday Ayer Ah-yere'. 

The day before yesterday. .'. Antes de ayer An'-tays day' ah-yere 

To-day Hoy Oy. 

To-morrow Mariana Man-yah -nah. 



329 

The day after to-morrow. . Pasada manana Pa-sah'-da man-yah'-nah. 

The night before last. . . Antes de anoche An'-tays day ah-no'-tchay. 

Last night Anoche Ah-no'-tchay. 

Last week La semana pasada Lah say-mah'-nah pa-sah'- 

dah. 

Last month El mes pasado El mace pa-sah'-do. 

Last year. El afio pasado El ahn'-yo pa-sah'-do. 

Year Afio Ahn'-yo. 

Month Mes Mace. 

Week Semana Say-mah'-nah. 

An hour Una hora Oon'-ah oh'-rah. 

Half an hour Media hora May'-de-ah oh'-rah. 

Quarter of an hour Un cuarto de hora Oon kwar'-to day oh'-rah. 

What day of the month is 

it? 6 Que dia es hoy? Kay de'-ah es oy? 

Hour Hora O'-rah. 

Minute Minuto Min-oo'-to. 

Second Segundo Say-goon'-do. 

What time is it ? i Que hora es ? Kay o'-ra es ? 

It is one o'clock Es la una Es lah oon'-a. 

It is a quarter past one. . Es la una y cuarto Es lah oon'-ah e kwar'-to. 

It is half past one Es la una y media Es lah oon'-ah e may'-dia. 

It is a quarter to two. . . . Son las dos menos cuarto. Sone lahs dose may'-nos 

kwar'-to. 
It is about four Son cerca de las cuatro. . . . Sone ser'-ka de las kwah'- 

tro. 
It is twenty minutes past Son las diez y veinte minu-Sone lahs de-eth e vay'-inte 
ten tos. min-oo'-tose. 

Two o'clock -Son las dos Sone lahs dose. 

Ten o'clock Son las diez Sone lahs de-eth'. 

It is midnight Es media noche Es may'-de-o no'-tchay. 

It is noon Es media dia Es may'-de-a dee'-ah. 

SEASONS. 

ENGLISH, SPANISH, PRONUNCIATION. 

Spring. Primavera Prim-mah-vere'-ah. 

Summer Verano Vai-rah'-no, 

Autumn Otofio O-tone'-yo. 

Winter Invierno Een-ve-ere'-no. 

MONEY. 

ENGLISH, SPANISH, PRONUNCIATION, 

Money Moneda Mo-nay '-dah. 

Money Dinero De-ner'-o. 

Gold . .Oro O'-ro. 

Silver Plata Plat'-ah.^ 

Paper Papel Pah-pell'. 

Dollar Peso Pay'-so. 

Cent Centavo Cen-tah'-vo. 

Real Real Ray-al'. 

Medio Medio May'-de-6. 

Change Cambio Kam'-be-o. 

Bank note Billete Beel-yai'-te. 



330 

Per cent Por ciento Por see-en'-to. 

Bank Banco Bank'-o. 

Draft Letra de cambio Lay'-tra day cam'-be-o. 

Check Cheque Chek'-kay. 

Discount Descuento Des-coo-en'-to. 

Premium Premio Pray'-me-o. 

Par Ala par Ah lah par. 

ON THE ROAD. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Ticket Boleto Bo-lay'-to. 

First class Primera clase Prim-er'-ra klas'-say. 

Second class Segunda clase Say-goon'-dah klas'-say. 

Third Tercera clase Ter-sere'-ah klas'-say. 

Through ticket Boleto terminal Bo-lay'-to ter-me-nal'. 

Limited ticket Boleto limitado Bo-lay'-to lim-e-tah'-do. 

Unlimited ticket Boleto ilimitado Bo-lay'-to e-lim-e-tah'-do. 

Stop-over ticket Boleto de parada Bo-lay'-to day pah-rah'- 

dah. 

Excursion ticket Boleto de excursion Bo-lay'-to day ex-cur-see- 

- on'. 
Round-trip ticket -. . Boleto de viaje redondo.. Bo-lay'-to day vee-ah'-he 

ray-don'-do. 

Half-fare ticket Medio boleto May'-de-o bo-lay'-to. 

Sleeping-car ticket Boleto de coche dormitorio Bo-lay'-to day ko'-tchay 

dor-me-to'-re-o. 
Ticket agent Agente de boletos Ah-hen'-tay day bo-lay '- 

tos. 
Ticket office Despacho de boletos Des-pah'-tcho day bo- 

lay'-tos. 
Telegraph office Oficina del telegrafo Off-e-see'-nah del tel-leg'- 

rah-fo. 

Railroad Ferrocarril Fer-ro-car-reel'. 

Railroad station Estacion Es-tah-see-on'. 

Train Tren Tren. 

Express train Tren expreso Tren es-pres'-o. 

First train Primer tren Prim-er' tren. 

Through train Tren terminal Tren ter-me-nal'. 

Local train Tren local Tren lo-cal'. 

Sleeping car Coche dormitorio Ko'-tchay dor-me-to'-re-o 

Smoking car Coche de fumar Ko'-tchay day foo-marr'. 

Express car Coche del expreso Ko'-tchay del es-pres'-o. 

Day coach Coche de dia Ko'-tchay day de-ah'. 

Baggage car Carro de equipajes Kar'-ro day ek-e-pah'- 

hes. 
Baggage room Sala de equipajes Sah'-lah day ek-e-pah'- 

hes. 
Baggage agent Agente de equipajes Ah-hen'-tay day ek-e- 

pah'-hes. 

Baggage Equipaje Ek-e-pah'-he. 

Trunk Baul Bah-ool'. 

Valise Maleta Mah-lay'-tah. 

Hat box Sombrerera Som-bra3^-ray'-rah. 



331 

Check Talon Tah-lon'. 

Dining room Comedor Kom-may-dor'. 

Toilet room Retrete Ray-tray'-te. 

Without change Sin cambio Seen kam'-beo. 

No transfer Sin trasbordo Seen trass-bor'-do. 

A. M Por la mahana For lah man-yah'-nah. 

P. M For la tarde Por lah tar'-day. 

Schedule Itinerario E-tin-a-rair'-re-o. 

Agent Agente Ah-hen-te. 

Ticket Agent. Agente de boletos Ah-hen-te day bo-lay' - 

tose. 

Chief of" station. Jefe de la estacion Hef-edaylahes-tah'-se-on 

Conductor Conductor Kon-dook-tor'. 

Sleeping-car conductor. . Conductor de coche dor- Kon-dook-tor' day ko'- 

mitorio. tchay door-me-to'-re-o. 

Porter Portero Por-ter'-o. 

Engine Maquina Mack'-e-nah. 

Engineer Maquinista Mack-in-e'-sta. 

I wish to go to — Quiero ir hasta — Kee-er'-o eer as'-tah — , 

What time does the train 6 A que hora sale el tren?. Ah kay o'-rah sally el 

start? tren? 

How many miles from 6 Cuantas millas de aqui Kwahn'-tahs meel'-yas day 

here to — ? hasta — ? ah-kee' as'-tah — ? 

When will I arrive? 6 A que hora llegare?. . . . Ah kay o'-ra 1-yay-gah- 

ray'? 
At what hour does the 6 A que hora sale el pro- Ah kay o'-ra sally el 

next train leave? ximo tren? prox'-e-mo tren? 

How much is the cost of a ^, Cuanto cuesta un boleto Kwahn'-to coo-es'-ta oon 

ticket from here to B.? de aqui a B.? bo-lay'-to day ah-kee' 

ah B.? 
How much is the cost of 6 Cuanto cuesta un boleto Kwahn'-to coo-es'-ta oon 

a return ticket? de ida y vuelta? bo-lay'-to day e-da e 

wel'-ta? 
How long is the ticket 6 Por cuanto tiempo es Por kwahn'-to tee-em'-po 

good? valido el boleto? es val'-e-do el bo-lay'- 

to? 
How much baggage free?, i Cuanto equipaje es libre? Kwahn'-to ek-e-pah'-he 

es lee'-bre? 
What is the cost for ex- ^ Cuanto cuesta por ex- Kwahn'-to coo-es'-ta por 

cess? ceso? ek-cess'-o? 

Per hundred pounds?.... i Por cien libras? Por see'-en lee'-brahs? 

Per fifty kilos? dPor cincuenta kilos?. . . Por sink-wen'-ta kee'- 

lose? 

IN TOWN AND AT THE HOTEL. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Hotel Hotel O-tel'. 

Have you any rooms va- i, Tiene Vd. cuartos va- Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid' kwar- 

cant? cios? tose vas-se-ose'? 

Have you a good room i'Tiene Vd. un cuarto Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid' oon 

with bath? bueno con bano? k w a r' - t o boo-ain'-o 

conban-yo. 
I want two rooms Quiero dos cuartos Kee-er'-o dose kwar'-tose. 



332 

Room Cuarto Kwar'-to. 

Bath Bano Ban'-yo. . 

Another bed Otra cama Oh'-trah cam'-ah. 

In the hotel En el hotel En el o-tel'. 

Give me my bill Deme Vd. mi cuenta.... Day'-may oo-staid' me 

cu-en'-tah. 
Give me my receipt Deme Vd. mi recibo Day'-may oo-staid' me re- 

see'-bo. 

Bring me some water. . . . Traigame agua Trah-ee'-gah-me' ah-gwa. 

Bring me some hot water. Traigame agua caliente. . Trah-ee'-gah-me' ah-gwa 

cal-ly-en'-te. 
Bring me some letter pa- Traigame papel de cartas. Trah-ee'-gah-me' pah- 

per. pel' day kart'-as. 

Bring me a pen and some Traigame una pluma' y Trah-ee'-gah-me' oon'-ah 

ink. tinta. ploom'-ah e teen'-tah. 

Bring me some envelopes. Traigame cubiertas Trah-ee'-gah-me' koo-be- 

er'-tahs. 

Towels Toallas To-al'-yas. 

Soap Jabon Ha-bon'. 

Matches Cerillos Seh-reel'-yos. 

Candle Candela Kan-day'-la. 

Lamp Lampara . ., ., Lamp'-a-ra. 

Ice Hielo Yai'-lo. 

Beer Cerveza Ser-vay'-za. 

How much shall I have to d Cuanto habre de pagar a Kwahn'-to ah-bray' day 
pay to" the washerwo- la lavandera? pah-gar' ah la lav-an- 

man? der'-ah? 

I want a washerwoman.. Quiero una lavandera.... Kee-er'-o oo'-nah lav-an- 

der'-ah. 
At what hour will you i A que hora vendra Vd.?. A kay' o'-ra ven-drah' oo- 
come? staid'? 

Street Calle Ki-ye. 

Palace Palacio Pal-as'-see-o. 

Church Iglesia E-glay'-see-ah. 

Cathedral Catedral Cat-eh-dral'. 

School Escuela Es-koo-ai'-lah 

College Colegio Col-ai'-he-o. 

Cemetery Cementerio Sem-en-ter'-e-o. 

Prison Carcel Kar'-sel. 

Store Tienda Tee-en'-da. 

Market Mercado ]\Ier-cah'-do. 

House Casa Kah'-sa. 

Call me very early Despierteme muy tem- Des-pe-er'-ta-me moo-e 

prano. tem-pran'-o. 

Call me at 7 o'clock Despierteme a las siete... Des-pe-er'-ta-me ah lahs 

* see-ai'-te. 

Take my baggage down. . Lleve Vd. mi cquipaje Lyai'-ve oo-staid' me ek 

abajo. we-pah'-he a-bah'-ho. 

How much is my bill?. . . 6 Cuanto es mi cuenta?. . .. Kwahn'-to es me coo'- 

enta? 
I want to pay my bill. .. . Quiero pagar mi cuenta. . Kee-er'-o pa-gar' me 

coo'-en-ta? 
What tim.e is it? i Que hora es? Kay o'-ra ais? 



333 

Send me a messenger. .. . Envieme un cargador. .. . En-vee-eh'-me oon car- 

ga-dor'. 

Carriage Coche Ko'-tchay. 

Coachman Cochero Ko-cher'-o. 

How much for one hour?. i-Cuanto por una hora? Kwahn'-to por oo'-nah 

o'-rah? 
How much to the station? i Cuanto hasta laestacion? Kwahn'-to as'-tah lah es- 

tali-see-on'? 

Where are you going?. .. iA donde va Vd.? Ah don'-dy vah oo-staid'? 

Go straight ahead Vaya derecho Vah'-ya day-ray'-tcho. 

Go faster Vaya mas rapido Vah'-ya mass rap'-e-do. 

Go slower Vaya mas despacio Vah'-ya mass des-pas'-seo. 

Stop Parese Vd. ! Par'-asy oo-staid'. 

Right Derecho Day-ray'-tcho. 

Left Izquierdo Ees-quee er'-do. 

Before Delante Day-lan'-teh. 

Behind Detras Day-tras'. 

North Norte Nor'-tay. 

South Sur Soor. 

East Este Es'-tay. 

, West Oeste Wes'-tay. 

Postoffice Correo Kor-ray'-o. 

Letters Cartas Kar'-tas. 

Postage stamps Timbres Teem'-bres. 

Envelopes Cubiertas Koo-be-er'-tas. 

Registered letter .,. . Carta registrada Kar'-tah reh-his-tra'-da. 

Have you any letters for i, Tiene Vd. cartas para Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid' kar'- 

me? mi? tahs par'-ra-me? 

At what hour does the iA que hora sale el tren A kay' o'-rah sally' el tren 

mail train leave for — ?. correo para — ? kor-ray'-o par'-ah — ? 

Letter box Buzon Boo-zon', 

SHOP TALK. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Have you any Tiene Vd. — ? Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid'. 

1 want to buy Quiero comprar Kee-er'-o com-prar'. 

Have you others Tiene Vd. otras? Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid' o'- 

trahs. 

I want another Quiero otra Kee-er'-o o'-trah. 

How many Cuantos Kwahn'-tose. 

Silk Seda Say'-dah. 

Wool Lana Lah'-nah. 

Cotton Algodon Al-go-don'. 

Linen Lienzo or Lino. Le-en'-zo or Lee'-no. 

■Have you anything bet- Tiene Vd. alguna cosa Tee-ai'-ne oo-staid' al- 
ter? mejor? goo'-na co'-sa mai'-hor. 

I want this Quiero este Kee-er'-o es'-tay. 

Send this to . Envie Vd. esta a En-ve-eh' oo-staid' es'-ta 

ah. 

Large , Grande Gran'-day. 

Small Poco Po'-co. 

New Nuevo Noo'-ev-o. 

Old Viejo Ve-eh'-ho. 



334 

Bad Malo MahMo. 

Pretty Eonito Bo-nee'-to. 

Cheap Barato Bah-rah'-to. 

Dear Caro Kar'-o. 

Very Dear iMuy Caro Moo'-e kar'-o. 

Narrow Angosto An-gose'-to. 

Wide Ancho An-tcho'. 

Collar Cuello ; Coo-el'-yo. 

Gloves Guantes Wan'-tez. 

Handkerchiefs Panuelos , Pan-yu-ai'-lose, 

Shoes Zapatos Zap-at'-ose. 

Pins Alfileres .Al-fee-lai'-res. 

Needles Agujas A-goo'-has. 

Thimble Dedal Day-dal'. 

Thread Hilo E'-lo. 

Ribbon Liston Lees-tone'. 

Scissors Tijeras Tee-hai'-ras. 

Veil Velo Vay'-lo. 

Black Negro Nay'-gro. 

White Blanco Blank'-o. 

Red Rubio Roo'-bee-o. 

Blue Azul Ah-zool'. 

Pink Rojizo Ro-hee'-zo. 

Green Verde Vere'-de. 

Purple Purpureo Poor-poor'-ay-o. 

Yellow , Amarillo Am-a-reel'-j^o. 

Long Largo Lar'-go. 

Short Corto Cor'-to. 

Thick Espeso Es-pay'-so. 

Thin Delgado Del-gah'-do. 

A yard Una vara Oo-na var'-a. 

How do you sell it by the yard? i A como vende Vd. la vara? A co'-mo ven'-day 

oo'-staid lah var'-a? 

GENERAL. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Good morning Buenos dias Boo-en'-os dee'-as. 

Good evening Buenas tardes Boo-en'-as tar'-des. 

Good night Buenas noches Boo-en'-as no'-tches. 

Sir Sehor Sane-yor'. 

Madam Sefiora Sane-yo'-ra. 

Miss Senorita Sane-yo-ree'-ta. 

Thank you Gracias Grah'-see-as. 

How do you do? c. Como esta usted? Co'-mo es-tah' oo-staid'? 

Well, thank you Bien, gracias Be-ehn'. grah'-see-as. 

And you? <'. Y usted? E oo-staid'? 

Do me the favor Hagame V. el favor Ah-ga-me cl fa-vor'. 

Tf you please Si usted gusta See oo-staid' goo'-stah. 

What do you want? i Que quiere usted? Kay kee-er'-e oo-staid 

What is this? i Que es este? Kay es es'-ty? 

What do you call that?. . . i. Como se llama eso? Ko-mo say yam'-ah ai-so.'' 

Do you know Sabe usted Sah'-beh oo-staid'. 

What is the matter? i. Que tiene? Kay tee-ai'-ne? 

Pardon me Perdoneme Per-ddn-a-me. 



335 

As soon as possible Tan pronto como posibleTan pron'-to ko'-mopos- 

e'-bleh. 

I will come again Vendre otra vez Ven-dray' o'-trah vace. 

Which is the way to — ?. 6 Cual es la via para — ? Kwahl es lah vee'-ahpar-a? 
Show me the way to — ?. . Enseheme Vd. el camino En-sane'-yai-me el cam 

de — ee'-no day — 

What is your name? iQue es su nombre de Kay-es soo nom'-bre day- 

Vd.? oo-staid'? 

iOr, Como se llama Vd. ? Co'-mo say l-yam'-a oo^ 

staid'? 

I am ready Estoy listo. Es-toy' lees'-to. 

I am well Estoy bien. Es-toy' be-ehn'. 

Bring me Traigame Trah-e'-ga-me. 

Very well Muy bien. Moo'-e be-ehn'. 

Let us go Vamos. Vam'-ose. 

It is late Es tarde. Es tar'-dy. 

It is early Es temprano Es tem-prah'-no. 

Sit down Sientese Vd See-en'-ta-seh oo-staid'. 

Go in Entre Vd En'-tray oo-staid'. 

Come in Entre En'-tray . 

Go away Vaya Vah'-ya. 

Good bye Adios. Ah-de-ose'. 

Yes Si .See, 

No No No. 

Do you speak English?. . . .^,Habla Vd. ingles? Ah'-bla oo-staid' ing-les'r 

I speak it a little Hablo un poco Ah'-blo oon po-co. 

What do you say? ciQue dice Vd. ?. Kay dee'-say oo-staid'? 

Where is — ? 6 Donde esta — ? Don'-day es-tah' — ? 

Where does he live? iDonde vive el? Don'-day vee'-veh el? 

DOCTOR AND MEDICINE. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

I am sick and want a doc- Estoy enfermo y quiero Es'-toy en-fere'-mo e kee- 

tor un medico. ere'-o oon med'-e-ko. 

Will you go to look for a Quiere Vd. ir a buscar Kee-er'-e oos-staid ir ah 

doctor. un medico. boos'-car oon med'-i-ko. 

I want a doctor who Quiero un medico que Kee-er'-o oon med'-e-ko 

speaks English. hable ingles. kay ab'-lay een-gless'. 

Is he a good doctor?. . . . t.Es buen medico? Es boo-en med'-e-ko? 

Where is the drug store?. <, Donde esta la botica?. . . Don'-dy es-tah' lah bo- 
tee' ka? 
Take this prescription to Lleve Vd. esta receta a la Lyai-veh' oo-staid' es'- 
the drug store. botica. sta res-ay'-tah ah la bo- 

tee'-ka. 
What is the matter with (iQue tiene Vd. ?. =....... Kay tee-ai'-ne oo-staid'? 

you? 

I have headache.... Tengo dolor de cabeza. . Teng'-o do-lor' day ca- 

vay'-za. 

I have toothache Tengo dolor de muelas. . Teng'-o do-lor' day moo- 

ai'-las. 

I have stomachache Tengo dolor de estomago. Teng'-o do-lor' day es- 

tom'-ago. 

I have earache , . , . Tengo dolor de oido. . . . Teng'-o do-lor' day o-ee'- 

do. 



336 

I have a cold Tengo resfriado Teng'-o res-free-ah-do. 

I have fever. Tengo fiebre Teng'-o fee-ai'-bre. 

How are you? 6 Como esta Vd. ? Ko-mo es-tah' oo-staid' ? 

I am better Estoy mejor Es-toy' may'-hor. 

I am worse Estoy peor Es-toy' pay'-or. 

Quinine Quinina Kee-nee'-na. 

Chloroform Cloroformo Cloro-for'-mo. 

Calomel Calomel Calo-mel'. 

Castor oil Aceite de castor As-ay'-e-tay day cas-tor'. 

Pills Pildoras Pil'-do-rahs. 

Capsules Capsulas Cap'-soo-lahs. 

Salts Sales Sal'-ehs. 

Morphine Morfina Mor-fee'-nah. 

Laudanum Laudana Lah'-oo-dah-na. 

Porous plaster Parche poroso Par'-tchay po-ro'-so. 

Plaster Emplasto or Parche Em-plas'-to or Par'-tchay. 

Mustard plaster Sinapismo Se-nah-pees'-mo. 

Aconite Aconito Ah-con'-e-to. 

Belladonna Belladona Bel-yah-don'-ah. 

Nux Vomica Nuez Vomica Noo'-es vom'-i-ca. 

Glycerine Glicerina Glee-cer-e'-nah. 

Arsenicum Arsenico Ar-say'-ne-co. 

TABLE AND MEALS, 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

The bill of fare La lista Lah lee'-sta. 

A plate Un plato Oon plat'-o. 

A glass '. . . .Un vaso Oon vaz'-o. 

A teaspoon Una cucharita Oo'-na coo-tchar-ee'-tah. 

Coffee Cafe Kaf-fay'. 

Coffee and milk Cafe con leche Kaf-fay' con lay'-tchee. 

Tea Te Tay. 

Milk Leche Lay'-tchee. 

Cream Crema. . . .". Kray'-mah. 

Sugar Azucar Ah-zoo'-kar. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chock-o-lat'-e. 

Beef tea Un caldo Oon cal'-do. 

Lemonade Limonada . Lee-mo-nah'-da. 

Beer Cerveza Ser-vay'-sa. 

Wine Vino Vee'-no. 

Claret Vino tinto , Vee'-no teen'-to. 

Ice Hielo Yai'-lo. 

Bread Pan Pahn. 

Butter IMantequilla Manty-keel'-ya. 

Water Agua Ag^-wah. 

Ice water Agua con hielo Ag'-wa con yai'-lo. 

Soup Sopa So'-pah.^ 

Fish Pcscado Pes-cah'-do. 

Oysters Ostiones Os-te-on'-es. 

Rice Arroz Ar-roce'. 

Eggs Huevos Wai'-voce. 

Fried eggs Huevos fritos Wai'-voce free'-toce. 

Hard boiled eggs Huevos duros Wai'-voce doo'-roce. 



337 

Soft boiled eggs Huevos pasados por aguaWai'-voce pa-sah'-doce 

por ahg'-wah 

Omelet Tortilla de huevos- ..... Tor-teel'-ya day wai'-vos, 

Beef Vaca Vah'-ka. 

Roast beef Vaca asada. Vah'-ka ah-sah'-da. 

Boiled Hervido Er-vee'-do. 

Meat Carne Kar'-nay. 

Beefsteak Beftek Bef-tek. 

Steak and potatoes Beftek con papas Bef-tek con pap'-as. 

Rare Poco asado Po-ko ah-sah'-do. 

Well done Bien asado Be-en' ah-sah'-do. 

Mutton Carnero Kar-nere'-o. 

Chops Costillas Kos-teel'-yahs. 

Cutlet Chuleta Choo-lay'-ta. 

Veal cutlet Chuleta de ternera Choo-lay'-ta day ter- 

nere'-a. 

Lamb Cordero Kor-dere'-o. 

Pork Puerco Poo-ere'-ko. 

Bacon Tocino - To-see'-no. 

Ham Jamon Ha-mone'. 

Pepper Pimienta Pee-mee-en'-ta. 

Salt Sal Sal. 

Oil Aceite Ah-say'-e-tay. 

Vinegar Vinagre Vee-nah'-gre. 

Mustard Mostaza Mos-taz'-ah. 

Sauce Salsa Sal'-sah. 

Vegetables Legumbres Le-goom'-bres. 

Potatoes Papas Pap'-ahs. 

Fried potatoes Papas fritas Pap'^-ahs free'-tas. 

Beans Frijoles Free-ho'-les. 

Peas Chicharos Chee'-char-ose. 

Lettuce Lechuga .Lay-chu'-ga. 

Cabbage. Col Col. 

Tomatoes Tomates To-mat'-es. 

Cauliflower. Colifior Col-e-flor'. 

Garlic Ajo Ah'-ho. 

Radishes Rabanitos Rah-ba-nee'-tose. 

Chicken . Polio Pole'-yo. 

Turkey Pavo Pah'-vo. 

Ice Cream Helado A-lah'-do. 

Cheese Queso Kay'-so. 

Fruit Fruta , Froo'-ta. 

Strawberries Fresas Fray'-sahs. 

Grapes Huvas Oo'-vas. 

Oranges Naranjas Nar-ran'-kas. 

Bananas Platanos Plat'-a-nos. 

Lemons Limones Lee-mo'-nes. 

Figs . Higos E'-gose. 

Table Mesa May'-sa. 

Chair Silla Seel'-ya. 

Napkin Servilleta Ser-veel'-yet-a. 

Fork , Tenedor Ten-e-dor'. 

Knife Cuchillo Coo-cheel'-yo. 

Spoon Cuchara Coo-tchar'-ah. 



338 




339 



Chrotiological 



ANNO DOMINI. 

648 — The Toltecs arrived in Anahuac. 
1051 — They abandoned the country. 
1 170 — The Chicimecs arrived in Mexico. 
1 196 — The Mexicans reached Tula. 
1200 — The Alcouans arrived. 

1325 — The Mexicans founded Tenochtitlan or the City of Mexico 
1428 — Foundation of the Aztec kingdom. 
1431 — Enthronement of Netzahualcoyotl, King of Texcoco. 
1485 — Cortez born at MedelHn, Spain. 
1502 — Montezuma II. enthroned. 
1504 — Cortez left Spain for Cuba. 

1510 — Great tidal wave on Lake Texcoco overflows Tenochtitlan. 
151 1 — Turrets of the great Aztec temple burned. 

Spanish ship wrecked on the Island of Cozumel. 
1516— Death of Nezahualpilli, the Tezcucan King. 
1517 — March 4, discovery of Yucatan by Cordoba. 
1 5 18 — May I, departure of Grijalva from Cuba for Mexico. 

November 18, Cortez sailed from Santiago. 
1519 — February 10, Cortez sailed from Habana. 

March 20, Cortez landed at the mouth of the Tabasco River. 

April 21, Cortez landed at Vera Cruz. 

August 16, commenced the march to the City of Mexico. 

September 23, Cortez entered Tlaxcala. 

November 8, Cortez entered the City of Mexico. 
1520 — June 30th, death of Montezuma. 

July I, Cortez driven out of City of Mexico, Noche Triste, the "Dismal 
Night." 

July 8, battle with the Mexicans at Otumba. 
1521 — August 13, re-entry of Cortez into the City of Mexico. 

Establishment by Spain of the rule over the new province by a governor, 

Cortez established the seat of government at Coyoacan. 

Establishment of the first Christian church in the New World at 
Tlaxcala. 
1524 — First church commenced on the site of the present Cathedral. 



340 

1525 — Hanging of Tetlepanquetzaltzin by Cortez. 

1526 — September 19, Bishopric of Puebla established, seat at Puebla. 

1528 — EstabHshment of the government under the Audencia. 

1529 — July 6, Cortez made Marques del Valle de Oaxaca. 

1530 — Guadalajara founded. 

1531 — December 9, vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. 

December 12, Juan Diego gathered the fiowers from where the Virgin 
stood. The feast of Guadalupe. 

July 25, Queretaro became a Christian city. 
1533 — Toluca founded. 
1535 — The' first Viceroy arrived in Mexico. 

June 2, Bishopric of Oaxaca established, seat at Oaxaca. 

First printing press brought to the country and first book printed in 
Mexico. 
1536 — August 29, corner stone of the Cathedral at Puebla laid. 
1539 — March 19, Bishopric of Chiapas established, seat at San Cristobal. 
1541 — May 18, Valladolid, now Morelia, founded. 
1542 — San Miguel founded. 

1545 — January 31, Archbishopric of Mexico established, seat at City of Mexico. 
1546 — September 8, discovery of silver at Zacatecas. 

1547 — December 2, Cortez died in the town of Castelleja de la Questa, in Spain. 
1548 — January 20, Zacatecas founded. 

July 31, Bishopric of Guadalajara established, seat at Guadalajara. 
1552 — First inundation of the City of Mexico, and the dyke of San Lazaro built 
1553 — Silao founded. 
1557 — Guanajuato founded. 

The Patio process for the amalgamation of silver invented by Bar- 
tolome de Medina at Pachuca. 
1562 — August 15, Bishopric of Yucatan established, seat at Merida. 
1568 — English driven off the island of Los Sacraficios near Vera Cruz. 
1570 — August 16, the Inquisition established in ^Mexico. 

Celaya founded. 
1573 — Corner stone of the Cathedral laid. 
1574 — Twenty-one Lutherans burned by order of the Inquisition. 

1576 — Leon founded. 
1583 — San Luis Potosi founded. 
1586 — An English ship captured near Acapulco. 

1587 — Sir Francis Drake captured a Spanish ship wuh a rich cargo, off Cali- 
fornia. 
1596 — Monterey founded. 
1600 — The City of Monterey founded. 

1603 — Building of the Aqueduct of Chapultepec commenced. 
1604 — Church on the Pyramid of Cholula dedicated. 



341 

l6o7 — November 28, the great drainage canal, Tajo de Nochistongo, com- 
menced. 
161 5 — Foundation and walls of the Cathedral completed. 

1618 — Cordoba founded. 

1620 — September 28, Bishopric of Durango established, seat at Durango. 

1623 — Cathedral placed under roof. 

1626 — First service in the Cathedral. 

1629 — Great inundation of the City of Mexico, 

1634 — Subsiding of the waters of the inundation of the Plain of Mexico. 

1643 — Salvatierra founded. 

1649 — April ID, fifteen persons burned by order of the Inquisition. 

April 18, Cathedral at Puebla consecrated. 
1660 — A colony of a hundred families settled in New Mexico. 
1667 — December 22, dedication of the Cathedral. 

1678 — May 2, Church of Santa Maria los Angeles at Churubusco completed. 
1691 — Conquest of Texas. 

1692 — Building of the National Palace commenced. 

1709 — May I, completion of the Church of Guadalupe near City of Mexico. 
1722 — January 19, opening of the first theater in Mexico. 

The first newspaper, Gaceta de Mexico, published in Mexico. 
1724 — February 4, completion of the Palacio del Ayuntimiento or City Hall. 
1760 — The first regular army organized in Mexico. 

Houses numbered in the City of Mexico. 
1767 — Jesuits expelled from Mexico by Royal Order, dated January 15. 
1770 — A fleet sailed for Spain with a cargo of thirty millions of silver dollars. 
iTjd — February 25, establishment of the Monte de Piedad or national pawn 

shop. 
1777 — December 25, Bishopric of Linares established, seat at Monterey. 
1779 — May 7, Bishopric of Sonora established, seat at Culiacan. 
1783 — September 2'j, Yturbide born. 
1789 — Arrival of the famous Viceroy, Conde de Revillagigedo. He appointed a 

police force in the City of Mexico, lighted and paved the streets. 
1791 — Completion of the towers of the Cathedral. 
1795 — Cession of Florida, west of the Perdido River, to France. 
1802 — August 4, casting of the bronze statue of Charles IV., at 6 a. m. 
1803 — December 9, statue of Charles IV. unveiled in the Plaza Mayor. 

Humboldt traveled in Mexico. 
1810 — September 16, Hidalgo sounded the Grito of Mexican Independence, 

October 30, battle of Las Cruces. 
181 1 — January 16, Hidalgo defeated at the Bridge of Calderon. 

May 21, Hidalgo captured at Acatita de Bajan. 

June 26, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez executed. 

July 31, Hidalgo executed at Chihuahua. 



342 

i8i2 — Evacuation of Cuautla by Morelos. 

1813 — September 14, meeting of the first Mexican Congress at Chilpancingo. 

November 6, first formal Declaration of Mexican Independence. 

December 23, defeat of Morelos. 
1814 — February 3, execution of Matamoras at Morelia. 

October 22, proclamation of the first Constitution at Apatzingan. 
1815 — December 22, Morelos executed by order of the Inquisition. 
1820 — May 31, suppression of the Inquisition in Mexico. 
1821 — Promulgation of the Plan of Iguala and the colors of the Mexican flag. 

August 2, Puebla taken by Iturbide. 

September 27, Iturbide entered the City of Mexico. 
1822 — February 24, first Congress of the Mexican Nation assembled. 

May 19, Iturbide elected emperor. 

Iturbide and his wife annointed and crowned in the Cathedral of Mexico. 

December 6, a Republic proclaimed by Santa Ana at Vera Cruz. 
1823 — July 14, Iturbide shot at Padilla. 
1824 — October 4, Constitution proclaimed. 

October 10, first President of Mexico inaugurated. 

November 7, Second Mexican Congress. 

Statue of Charles IV. taken down and removed from the Plaza Mayor to 
the patio of the University. 
1825 — January i, First Constitutional Congress assembled. 

During this year the last Spanish soldier left Mexico in the evacuation 
of the Island of San Juan de Ulua. 
1829 — A Spanish force landed at Tampico in July. 

September 11, Spanish invaders defeated and captured by the forces 
under Generals Santa Ana and Mier. 
1830 — September 15, Porfirio Diaz born. 
1835 — Rebellion of Texas under Sam Houston. 
1836 — December 28, Spain formally recognized the Republic of Mexico. 

March 6, massacre of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas. 

March 27, massacre at Goliad. 

April 22, battle of San Jacinto, Texas. Santa Ana captured. 
1837 — xA.ugust 22, first concession granted for a railway between the City of 

Mexico and Vera Cruz. 
1840 — April 27, Bishopric of Lower California established, seat at La Paz. 
1844 — April 12, Texas admitted into the Union. 
i8d6 — April 24, first skirmish of the American War, 

May 8, battle of Palo Alto and May g, Resaca de la Palma. 

May 18, General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande at IMatamoros. 

July 7, Monterey, Cal., captured. 

July 8, San Francisco, Cal., captured. 

September 20, Monterey captured. 



343 

1847 — February 23, battle of Buena Vista. 
February 28, Chihuahua occupied. 
March 9, General Scott landed at Vera Cruz. 
March 27, Vera Cruz captured. 
April 18, battle of Cerro Gordo. 
May 25, Puebla occupied by the Americans. 
August 9, General Scott entered the Valley of Mexico. 
August 20, battles of Padierna and Churubusco. 
September 8, battles of Casa Mata and Molino del Rey. 
September 12 and 13, storming and capture of Chapultepec. 
September 13, capture of the Garita de Belem and San Cosme. 
September 15, entry of the Americans into the City of Mexico. 
1848 — February 2, conclusion of peace and signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe, 

Hidalgo. 
1850 — June I, Bishopric of Vera Cruz established, seat at Jalapa. 
1851 — President Arista inaugurated. 

1852 — Statue of Charles IV. placed in its present position. 
1853 — Santa Ana proclaimed dictator of Mexico. 
1854 — August 30, Bishopric of San Luis Potosi established, seat at San Luis 

Potosi. 
1855 — Comonfort elected President. 

1856 — June 25, decree ordering sale of church real estate by President Comon- 
fort. 
September 16, suppression of the Franciscan monks. 
£859 — July 12, proclamation of the Laws of the Reform, by President Juarez. 
1861 — July 17, passage of the law suspending payment on bonded debt of the 
Republic. 
October 31, adoption of the Treaty of London by England, France and 

Spain. 
Arrival of the allied fleet at Vera Cruz, in December, 1861, and January, 
1862. 
1862 — January 26, Bishopric of Queretaro established, seat at Queretaro. 
Bishopric of Leon established, seat at Leon. 
Bishopric of Zamora established, seat at Zamora. 
Bishopric of Zacatecas established, seat at Zacatecas. 
February 19, Treaty of La Soledad signed. 

May 5, brilliant battle at Puebla and repulse of the French by the Mexican 
General Zaragosa. 
1863 — March 6, suppression of all religious orders in Mexico. 

March 16, Bishopric of Tulancingo established, seat at Tulanclngo. 
Bishopric of Chilapa established, seat at Chilapa. 
Archbishopic of Michoacan established, seat at Morelia. 
/Archbishopric of Guadalajara established, seat at Guadalajara. 



344 

May 17, Puebla captured by the French. 
June 9, French troops occupied the City of Mexico. 

July 10, assembly of notables called in the City of Mexico, and the 
crown tendered to Maximilian, the Archduke of Austria. 
1864 — June 12, Maximilian crowned Emperor of Mexico. 

1865 — October 3, Maximilian published a decree declaring all persons in arms 
against the Imperial Government bandits, ordering them executed. 
October 21, Generals Felix Diaz, Arteaga, Salazar and Villagomez shot 

at Uruapam as bandits under Maximilian's decree. 

November 6, the United States, through Secretary Seward, sent a 

dispatch to Napoleon III., protesting against the presence of the 

French army in Mexico as a grave reflection against the United States, 

and notifying him that nothing but a Republican would be recognized. 

1866 — April 5, Napoleon withdrew his support from Maximilian. 

November, Napoleon ordered the evacuation of Mexico by the French 
troops. 
1867 — The last of the French troops leave Mexico in February. 
April 2, capture of Puebla by General Profirio Diaz. 
April II, he defeated Marquez at San Lorenzo. 
May 15, capture of Queretaro, surrender of Maximilian to General 

Escobedo. 
June 19, execution of Maximilian, Mejia and IMiramon. 
June 21, capture of the City of Mexico by Genetal Porfirio Diaz. 
July 15, Juarez entered the City of Mexico and re-established his gov- 
ernment. 
1869 — September 16, completion of the Mexican Railway to Puebla. 

October 4, Bishopric of Tamaulipas established, seat at Victoria. 
1871 — December i, Juarez re-elected President. 
1872 — July 18, death of President Juarez. 

December i, election of President Lerdo. - 

December 20, completion of the Mexican Railway in the meeting of the 
tracks above ]\Ialtrata. 
1873 — January i, opening of the Mexican Railway between the City of Mexico 

and Vera Cruz. 
1874 — Incorporation in the Constitution of the Laws of the Reform. 
1875 — December 5, opening of the National Exhibition of Mexican products, in 

the City of Mexico. 
1876 — January 15, commenced the revolution under the plan of Tuxtepec. 

November 24, General Porfirio Diaz entered the City of Mexico at the 
head of the revolutionary army and was proclaimed provisional presi- 
dent. 
1877 — ]\Iay 6, General Diaz declared Constitutional President. 
1878 — Concession granted for the building of the Interoceanic Railway. 



345 

1879 — June 24, execution of nine revolutionists against the Diaz government, 

at Vera Cruz. 
1880 — May 25, Bishopric of Tabasco established, seat at San Juan 'Bautista. 
September 25, election of General Manuel Gonzalez as President. 
Track laying on the Mexican Central commenced. 
October 14, construction of Mexican National Railroad commenced. 
1882 — November 25, Sonora Railway opened. 
1883— The ''Nickel Riots" occurred. 

March 15, Bishopric of Colima established, seat at Colima. 
1884 — March 8, completion of the tracks, and on April 5 opening of the Mexican 

Central Railway from El Paso to the City of Mexico. 
1885 — February, some Americans arrested for breaking twigs from the tree of 

Noche Triste. 
1886 — Completion of Mexican National Railroad to Morelia and Patzcuaro. 
December i, re-election of General Porfirio Diaz to the presidency. 
1888 — April 17, completion of the Mexican Central to Guadalajara. 

March i, completion of the International Railroad, Eagle Pass to 

Torreon. 
November i, completion of the Mexican National Railroad, from Laredo 
to the City of Mexico. 
1889 — Construction of the Mexican Southern Railroad commenced in Sep- 
tember. 
1892 — November 11, opening of the Mexican Southern Railroad. 
1893 — Completion of the Interoceanic Railway to Vera Cruz. 
1894 — March i, first party of American tourists visited the Ruins of Mitla, 
under escort of the American Tourist Association. 
Completion of the Tehuantepec Railroad. 
1895 — October 12, coronation of the Virgin of Guadalupe. 

1896 — September 16, Mexico's Liberty Bell, the bell of Hidalgo, placed over the 
entrance to the National Palace. 
November 8, President Diaz opens 2nd Pan-American Medical Congress. 
1897 — Completion of the Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific Railway to Cuernavaca. 
1901 — April 10, dedication of the Chapel on the Cerro Campana, where Maxi- 
milian was executed. 
Excavations at Mitla reveal subterranean chambers, cement pavings, 
stone curbings. 
1903 — First solid train of Pullmans from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. 
1905 — Mexican National R. R. made standard gauge through to the City of 

Mexico. 
1906 — Mexico adopts gold standard, fixing the value of the peso at fifty cents gold. 
1908 — Merger of the Mexican National and Mexican Central Railways under 
the name of the National Lines of Mexico, the government owning 
controlling interest. 



346 




CAVE ON THE S ^CRO MONTE. 



347 



Index. 



Page 

Abril Segimdo, Battle of 39 

Acambaro 155 

Acapulco 156 

Aduana 89 

Agriculture 13 

Aguas Calientes 158 

Aldama, Gen 31, 170 

Alameda, La 91 

Alamo Massacre 35 

Alhondiga 189 

AUende, Gen 31, 190 

Altitudes of Cities 322 

Altitudes of Mountains 12 

Alvarado, Leap of . . 93 

Ameca 160 

Amecameca 160 

American-Mexican War 35 

Amusements 61 

Anahuac 24 

Apam, Plain of 12, 284 

Apizaco 285 

Aqueducts 93 

Arbeu Theatre 62 

Anound the Valley of Mexico 121 

Arzobispado 89 

Assembly of Notables 38 

Atotonilco 31, 249 

Atzcapotzalco 129 

Audencias, The 29 

Baggage 43 

Balsas, The Rio 9 

Ball Games 63 

Balvanera, La 101 

Barranca 185 

Baranca del Infernillo 287 

Belen de los Padres 102 

Bergantines 27, 72 

Big Tree of Tule 204 

Bishop's Palace 212 

Boca del Monte 286 

Bocas 300 



Page 

Bolson de Mapimi 11, 270 

Buena Vista, Battle of 36 

Bull Fights 63 

Cabs 45 

Cacahuamilpa . 315 

Calendar Stone 79 

Calzadas 93 

Camara de Diputados 89 

Campanas, Cerro de las 39 

Campeche 165 

Capuchinas 242 

Cargadores 53 

Caridad, La 102 

Carlotta ' 241 

Carmen, El 103 

Carmen Church at Celaya 166 

Carriages 45 

Casa Mata, Battle of 36 

Casa de Moneda 89 

Catacombs at Guanajuato 191 

Cathedral, City of Mexico 96-98 

Cathedral, Durango 179 

Cathedral, Guadalajara 183 

Cathedral, Morelia 218 

Cathedral, Puebla 236 

Catorce 164 

Causeways 93 

Celaya 166 

Cequauhtzin, Legend of 141 

Cerro de las Mitras 211 

Cerro de la Silla 211 

Cerro Gordo 296 

Chac-Mol 81 

Chalco, Lake 11 

Chapultepec 121 

Chapala, Lake 9 

Charles Dudley Warner 96, 243 

Charles IV, Statue 94 

Chihuahua 168 

Chilpancingo 170 

Chinampas 137 

Cholula, Pyramid of 238 



348 



Page 

Cholula, Massacre 27 

Choy Cave 282 

Chronological 339 

Churches, City of Mexico 96 

Church of the Leaning Tower 112 

Church Visiting 53 

Churubusco, Battle of 121 

Churubusco, Town of 124 

Cigars 49 

Cinco de Mayo. Battle of 38 

Circo-Teatro Orrin 62 

Cities and Towns 155 

City of Mexico 71 

Claim of the Pies 37 

Climate 7, 45 

Clothing 45 

Clubs 60 

Coaches, Hackney 45 

Coahuila & Pacific Ry 306 

Coast, The 12 

Coatepec Valley 197 

Cof re de Perote 196 

Colegio, Durango 181 

Colegio de las Niiias 104 

Colegio de la Paz 84 

Colleges 83 

Colossal Head, A 82 

Colima 171 

Columbus, Statue of 95 

Commercial College 84 

Congress, First 33 

Corpus Cristi 104 

Conquest of Mexico 24 

Conquest, Standard 26 

Conservatory of Music 83 

Contreras 312 

Convents 101 

Cordoba 171 

Coatzacoalcos 9, 171 

Corona, Don Juan 139 

Cortez 24 

Cortez, Banner of 255 

Costumes 56 

Coyoacan 125 

Cuautla • 172 

Cuautlenchan 136 

Cuernavaca 173, 314 

Cuincho, Hot Springs 304 

Cuitzeo, Lake 10 

Culiacan 176 

Customs Regulations 43 

Customs 56 



Page 

Desierto, El 130 

Diaz, President 39, 221 

Diego, Juan, Vision of 143 

Discovery of Mexico 24 

Dismal Night 27 

Distances 45, 325 

Doctors 53 

Dolores Hidalgo 31 

Dominicans 117 

Dulces 54 

Durango 176 

Duties 43 

Eastward Over the Interoceanic. .293 
Eastward Over the Mexican Ry..283 

Eastward to Tampico 276 

Etla 310 

El Indio Triste 80 

El Salto del Abra de Caballeros. . .282 

Encarnacion Bridge 273 

Ensenanza Antigua 106 

Entombment, The 232 

Esperanza 285 

Eulalia, Santa, Mine 170 

Express Service 53 

Feathered Serpent, The 81 

Fierro del Toro 313 

Floating Gardens 137 

Flower Market 91 

Foreign Hospitals 86 

Forests 13 

French Intervention 37 

Fresnillo 271 

Geographical 7 

Goddess of Water 80 

Grijalva, Landing of 24 

Grijalva 9 

Grito of Independence. 145 

Guadalajara * 181 

Guadalupe near Citv of Mexico. . . .142 

Guadalupe, Coronation of 150 

Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Treaty of 36 

Guadalupe near Puebla 234 

Guadalupe near Zacatecas 263 

Guanajuato 186 

Guarantees, The Three 32 

Guatemotzin 27 

Guatcmotzin, Statute of 95 

Guaymas 193, 318 



349 



Page 

Hall of Ambassadors 87 

Hall of the Monoliths 207 

Harbors 12 

Hercules Mills 16 

Hermosillo ...193, 318 

Hidalgo 31, 87, 170 

Hidalgo Railroad 19, 320 

Historical 23 

Historic Houses 89 

Hospicio Guadalajara 183 

Hospicio de Pobres 86 

Hospital Real 110 

Hospitals, City of Mexico 84 

Hospitals, Foreign 86 

Hotels 47 

Hotels and Restaurants 47 

House of the Masks 90 

House of Tiles 89 

Huitzilopochtli Idol 80 

Huixotla, Ruins of 293 

Humboldt House 90 

Humboldt Panel 205 

Iguala, Plan of ; 32 

Iguatzio, Town of 233 

Indio Triste, El 80 

Inquisition, The 117 

International Railway ,• • ^'^ 

Interoceanic Railway 18 

Irapuato 193 

Iron 14 

Iron Mountain 176 

Iturbide 32, 89 

Ixtacalco 140 

Ixtaccihuatl Height of 12 

Jalapa 194 

Jesus Maria 110 

Jesus Nazareno 110 

Jimenez, Gen 32, 170 

Juanacatlan, Falls of 186 

Juan Diego, Vision of 143 

Juan Medina 301 

Juan Panduro 183 

Juarez, Benito 38 

Juarez Monument 96 

La Barca 274 

La Bufa 262 

La Cuna 85 



Page 

La Mineria 83 

Lagos 197 

Laja, Cafion of 300 

Lakes 9 

La Piedad 131 

Las Canoas 278 

Laundries 59 

La Viga Canal 136 

Law School 84 

Leon 197 

Lerdo 200 

Lerma River 9 

Letter Writers 96 

Liberty Bell 87 

Libraries 75 

Linares 316 

Los Remedios 140 

Malintzi 285 

Maltrata 286 

Manufactures 15 

Manzanillo 200 

Mapinii, Bolson de 270 

Maravatio 200 

Marfil 186 

Markets 60 

Marina, La 26 

Matias Romero 319 

Matamoros 201 

Maximilian, Execution of 241 

Maximilian, Coronation of 38 

Mayran, Rio 11 

Mazatlan 201 

Measures 45, 325 

Medicines 53 

Merced Market 60 

Merida 201 

Mescal 13 

Metlac Ravine 287 

Mexia 241 

Mexicalcingo 140 

Mexican Railway 16 

Mexican Central Railway 17 

Mexican International Ry 17 

Mexican Interoceanic Ry 18 

Mexican National Ry 18 

Mexican Northern Railwav 19, 305 

Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific Ry..l7 

Mexican Southern Ry 19 

Mexican War 35 

Michoacan 219 

Michoacan & Pacific Railway 315 



350 



Page 

Military 51 

Military Academy 122 

Mines and Mining 14 

Mint, City of ^lexico 89 

Mint, Chihuahua 170 

Miramon 241 

Mitla 201 

Mixcoac 125, 311 

Molino de Flores 135 

Molino del Rev, Battle of 36 

Molino del Rey 124 

Monclova 211 

Money 44 

Monte Alban 223 

Monte de Piedad 82 

Montemorelos 316 

Monterey 211 

Monterey & Mexican Gulf Ry. .19, 315 

Montezuma 24 

Monuments, City of Mexico 94 

Moon, Pyramid of the 133 

Moonstone 303 

Morelia 215 

Morelos, the Patriot 32, 173, 219 

Morelos Division 296 

Mountain Altitudes 12 

Mountains 11 

Museum 78 

Nacional, Teatro 62 

National School of Fine Arts 75 

National Library 74 

National Museum 78 

National Palace 87 

National Pawnshop 82 

Nazas, The 9 

Netzahualcoyotl 253 

Newspapers 54 

Nickel Riots 40 

Noche Triste 72 

Nochistongo 132 

Nogales 318 

Notable Buildings 87 

Nuestra Sehora de las Angeles. .. .113 
Nuestra Sefiora de la Concepcion. .104 
Nuestra Sehora de la Encarnacion.106 

Nuestra Sefiora de la Loreto 112 

Nuestra Sehora de Monseratte. . . .114 

Oaxaca 220 

Ocoyocac 302 

Official Permits 59 

Olivar, El ..311 



Page 

Opals 245 

Orizaba 224 

Orizaba, Peak of 286 

Orrin, Circus 62 

Ortiz, Doha Josef a 31, 96, 243 

Otumba 294 

Pacanda, Island of 233 

Pachuca 226 

Palace, The National 87 

Palacio del Ayuntamiento 90 

Palenque 228 

Palo Alto 35 

Pan American Ry 320 

Panteons 91 

Panteon of Guanajuato 190 

Papaloapan, The 9 

Panuco, Rio 251 

Parks 91 

Parras 229 

Paseo de Bucareli 92 

Paseo de la Reforma 92 

Paseos 91 

Paseo de la Viga 93 

Paso del Macho 288 

Patio Process 15 

Patzcuaro 230 

Patzcuaro, Lake 9, 231 

Permits 59 

Piedad, La 131 

Plaza Mayor de la Constitucion. . . .91 

Plazas 91 

Plaza de Toros 64 

Police 51 

Popocatepetl, Ascent of 161 

Postage 53, 325 

Porta Coeli 115 

Pottery of Guadalajara 185 

Practical ]\Iatters 43 

Preparatory School ,84-, 

Profesa, La 

Protestantism 

Protestant Churches 120 

Public Buildings 87 

Puebla 233 

Puebla, Cathedral of 236 

Puente de Dios 281 

Puerto Mexico 319 

Pulque 13 

Queretaro 240 

Quetzalcoatl 238 

Quiroga, Bishop 219 



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